Dark Wings
by Hattress and Hare
Summary: Aradia couldn't afford to get close to anyone after spending 8 years in a place likened to Hell but fate had something else planned for her, something that would change the lives of everyone around her. Crisis Core based,Genesis/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: **

**The Hare:** And here we are with the first chapter of our BEAUTIFUL first Collaboration for Final Fantasy VII. You want to talk about a headache from HELL trying to get on the computer. Coordinating over the internet is not easy, people. TRUST ME!!!!

**The Hattress:** Okay so this has been a few years in the making, at least it has been for me. I originally came up with the basic story idea back after Crisis Core first came out. Just recently I dragged The Hare in with me on this. Basically it goes like this: most of the plot, at least the main points are from myself, and the actual writing is done by her. We work together on pretty much everything else.

**DISCLAIMER (D/c, for future reference):** WE DON'T OWN FFVII or anything related there of. However, a good portion of the plot will be from the fruits of Hattress' twisted little mind. She comes up with it, I just spin the tale, like she said.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_///// Flashback /////_

_The green energy swirled and flowed around her. She hated it here. She couldn't move, she felt cramped, and she didn't feel well._

_She heard voices again. Always the same. _

"_Her body, while becoming more durable, isn't reacting to the Mako like the others did."_

_Mako? Is that what this strange energy was? Wasn't that dangerous?_

"_What do you mean, Professor? The Tsvets were all born with their abilities. You can't possibly judge her progress by them."_

"_I wasn't referring to Weiss and the others. I'm referring to the other samples President Shinra sent us. Most of them died within the first two weeks. She's lasted a month."_

"_I think we need to pull her and do another Genetic Map. We need to know what's changed …"_

_The pain, while it lasted, was excruciating. She and the other children, all around her age, that they kept here; they were all undergoing the same testing. They took her blood at regular intervals. _

_The testing was over for today. Once they'd found out that her body had changed astronomically, she'd been allowed to be with the other children. Weiss, Nero, and Rosso. Rosso was the only other girl, but she was strange. She liked blood, and she liked to cause pain. _

"_Ara!" Weiss called. "Come here." He was the one that protected her. The others didn't bother her on his order. He was the ring leader, as the oldest male. Even Rosso submitted to him._

_Aradia walked over to where he and Nero were sitting. They were playing with rocks and the cloud of darkness that Nero could create. He held a small one in the air and Weiss dropped rocks into it to see what would happen._

"_What is it, Weiss?" Aradia asked. _

"_We want to try with Organic matter, but the Restrictors won't let us. If we promise not to hurt you, will you help us?" Nero asked. "If you get pulled in, I can always pull you out."_

_Aradia contemplated for a moment. "Sure. What do I need to do?" _

_Nero and Weiss smiled as Rosso sneered at her. "Just stick your hand in there. We're trying to figure out what Nero feels when something is absorbed. So far, he doesn't really feel the rocks we find. We want to try something bigger."_

_Aradia smiled and reached out, putting first only one finger, and then her whole hand into black cloud. _

_Nero gasped. "I can feel it. Her presence, inside me. It's strangely warm. Weiss, this is weird."_

_Weiss nodded. "You can take your hand out now, Ara."_

_Aradia obeyed without thought. It was strange. Her hand had become all but detached. It felt like it was being stretched and warped, but it didn't hurt. When she told this to the boys, they were stunned._

_That was when one of the Restrictors walked in. "Alright, you four, time for your baths. Aradia, come with me."_

_Aradia glanced over her shoulder at the man. She hated this place. She wanted out. She wanted her parents. She hugged Weiss and Nero, as she always did before they went to their baths, and followed the doctor._

_The others would be in their bath for the rest of the night. They had to sleep in there or something bad would happen, according to the Restrictors. While the others were in the baths, she was locked in a small room and given her dinner. When she was done eating, she went straight to sleep on the hard bed they provided for her. She didn't like it here._

_Failure._

_Mako Dependant._

_Slight immunity._

_Once a month injections. _

_Death. _

_These words ran on a continuous reel in Aradia's mind. She'd been ripped away from her only friends for so long and then dropped back into the outside world. The scientists that had made her what she was didn't care if she lived or died. Either she was found by ShinRa and their men, or she wasn't. They didn't care either way. _

_She'd been out of Deep Ground for three days now. She'd gotten one last injection before she went. She had a month to find someone that worked for Soldier and be taken in. _

_It had been so long. Eight years since she'd felt the sun on her skin. It felt so nice to be out in the open, to breathe the free air. Deep Ground smelled of little more than rot and decay. So many people had died or been altered down there. And now, their latest experiment. Shelke. _

_She was little more than 13, now. The same age that Aradia was when she was taken. Shelke, it seams, has been frozen at the age of nine, the age she was when she was brought in. Weiss, Nero, and Aradia had spent that first year comforting her, as her dependence on Mako became apparent. She'd been implanted with some kind of super computer brain. They'd also tried, one last time, to imprint Aradia's immunity into Shelke. It had failed. _

_Aradia's experiment had been deemed a failure, and she was to be terminated. _

_They'd released her instead. It was so strange an act. The others had been enraged that she was going to be left to survive on her own. Weiss had turned into her brother as well. She cared for him and Nero both, so much. Shelke as well. And now they were in that Hell. _

_Alone. _

_She was unable to help them._

_Aradia pounded her fist on the ground. Damn those bastards for what they'd done to them all. _

_Damn them._

* * *

_Aradia whirled around, ready to fight. Weiss had trained her well enough to do major damage to a normal, human, attacker. It was a man in a suit. He had red hair and goggles on his head. The man with him was a large, dark skinned man with sun glasses on. Neither of them looked too inviting._

"_Who are you?" The red haired one asked. _

_Aradia remained silent, waiting for them to come at her._

"_Okay, we'll introduce ourselves first. I'm Reno, this is Rude. We're Turks with ShinRa." The red head said. "You wouldn't happen to be Aradia Maynard, would you?"_

_Aradia straightened only slightly, still ready to move and fight. "Why do you ask?"_

"_We were sent by President Shinra himself to collect you." Rude said, his tone serious. "Apparently, you're a valuable asset that can't afford to be lost. How long have you been out here on your own?"_

"_Three weeks." Aradia told him. She knew that if she didn't get her injection sometime within the next fourteen days, she would die quickly. "What do you plan on doing with me if I let you take me in?"_

"_That's for the President and Director Lazard to decide." Reno told her, smiling. "Come on, it's not all bad. The fringe benefits are kinda nice."_

_Aradia stared at them both for a moment; then dropped her defensive stance. The two men took hold of either of her arms and walked her over to the car that they had with them. She was placed in the back seat with extreme care and they got into the front, driving away with all speed._

Genesis Rhapsodos was not a pleasant man to deal with when forced out of bed at the crack of dawn, so when the call came down, via Sephiroth and Angeal that the three of them, Genesis in particular, were wanted in Director Lazard's office, all of the Seconds and other soldiers aside from Genesis's fellow firsts and friends scattered like rats to get out of the firing range. Genesis had a bad temper on a good day, so none of them wanted to be around to see the inevitable fireworks.

Genesis growled as he pulled on his boots and grabbed his coat and sword. He HATED days like this with a passion. Either he was being sent out on a new mission, which he wouldn't mind given the current monotone, or there was something completely mundane that he was going to be forced to do.

Either way, he didn't like it.

Sephiroth and Angeal waited for him outside of the bedroom. The three of them boarded the elevator together to go to Director Lazard's office.

"Cheer up, Genesis." Angeal said, smiling at him. "It can't be all bad. Besides, its only just ten in the morning."

Genesis shot his childhood friend a glare as they arrived on their desired floor. Sephiroth led them out of the elevator with his usual calm and serene look.

Genesis wanted to smack him upside the head just to rile him up.

"Ah, yes, our three Firsts." Director Lazard said, smiling at them. He motioned to the chairs not taken up by the petite raven haired girl currently sitting to his right. "Please, sit down."

Angeal and Genesis took their seats while Sephiroth chose to lean against the table off to the side.

Genesis' eyes ran over the little female sitting on his left. She was small, but you could tell by looking at her vibrant, dark blue eyes that she held a lot of power. Those were Mako eyes, there was no mistake. She had long black hair clear to her hips and was dressed in a fairly peculiar manner. She had on a soft white tee shirt and a black ruffled skirt whit combat boots and fishnet sleeves. She had a slim leather coat draped over the back of her chair.

Genesis redirected his eyes to Lazard. "What's going on, Director?" While he may currently hate the man for having woken him up at this ungodly hour, he still respected his superiors.

"You've been called her for me to introduce your new Protégée." Lazard told him. "This is Miss Aradia Maynard. She's recently made Second and is working her way quickly through the ranks, much like Angeal's young Zack is."

Genesis glanced back at the girl, who had a faint smile on her lips, though her eyes had gone completely dead. What caused the girl's eyes to do that. Genesis looked back at Lazard. "And why is she being given to me?"

"Because her skills with Materia and hand-to-hand combat are up there with your own. We need someone with the skills to handle her. You're it. Sephiroth is far too busy with his assignments and Angeal already has young Zack. That only leaves you, Genesis."

Genesis nodded, shooting a sidelong glare at Sephiroth. He knew for a fact that the man had hoisted the girl off on him. Sephiroth had a habit of doing that. More often than not he was at a meeting where it was happening.

"With that said, Genesis, why don't you and Aradia get acquainted and you can show her around. Because she's a female, we're not housing her in the normal barracks. She's got a room on the same floor as the firsts. She's your responsibility, so make sure that she knows her way around."

Genesis blinked. Had he just been dismissed? He rose and glanced at Aradia to find that she was already on her feet and swinging her coat around her shoulders. She glanced up at him before looking away again. Genesis saluted to Lazard and Aradia followed suit as the two of them turned and left the room.

Aradia spoke for the first time as soon as they were in the hallway. She spoke in a high alto that could have been compared to a peal of bells in Genesis' mind. "I'm sorry about this, Commander Rhapsodos." She told him. "I told him I didn't want any special treatment. I just wanted to completely my training."

Genesis smiled to himself. "If you're in line for First, then your training consists of a First Ranked mentor. I have to ask, though, were you originally assigned to Sephiroth?"

Aradia looked up at him, stunned. "No!" she sounded somewhat defensive. "They assessed my skills and immediately decided that you were going to be my mentor." She turned her head away with a slight pout on her full lips …

Snap OUT of it, Genesis, he scolded himself. "Really? Interesting." He looked over the file that Sephiroth had handed him on his way out. It had all of her SOLDIER information in it. Nothing before she was recruited, though. "Where are you from?"

"Rocket Town." She said simply. "Though, I haven't been there in nearly eight years."

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Aradia didn't say a word. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. She obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Genesis nodded. They continued in silence, aside from Genesis pointing out random things here or there. Things that she needed to know.

When they finally reached her room, Genesis bowed low. "Miss Maynard."

"Thank you, Commander." She said with a smile. "When do we start training?"

Genesis smirked to himself. "Bright and early. Make sure you're in an actual uniform, Aradia. I'd hate to ruin your pretty Civilian clothes." With that he spun on his heel and walked off.

Genesis was feeling quite pleased with himself. Hopefully the intimidation had had the desired effect. It wasn't often that females got picked to join Soldier. More often than not, their emotions got in the way of their work. This girl, however, seemed fairly emotionless. She was closed off more so than even Sephiroth was.

He met back up with his friends as they exited the Elevator. Angeal smirked at him while Sephiroth held little more than an amused quirk of the lips.

"What are you two grinning about?" Genesis asked.

Both of them started laughing. Genesis glared. "Lets get some food. I'm starving."

The other two nodded and they made their way down to the Mess.

"So what do you think, Genesis?" Angeal asked. "Your first Protégée."

Genesis shrugged. "She seems fairly closed off. I'm looking forward to working with her, actually." He paused as he reached for some food. "She's almost as closed off as Sephiroth is, if not more so."

"You wound me, my friend." Sephiroth said.

Genesis smirked at him. "My apologies. _For you are beloved by the Goddess. Hero of the Dawn, healer of worlds._"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Act II."

"You're getting better." Genesis told him with a laugh.

Angeal shook his head. "That poor apprentice of yours is in for a whole lot of Hell. You'll be constantly quoting that book to her."

Genesis shrugged. "You just don't understand."

"Probably not." Angeal told him. "But facts remain."

They all looked up as two more people entered the room. One was Aradia. She had changed into her SOLDEIR 2nd class uniform and pulled her hair back into a long Ponytail, leaving only her bangs free. She was with Angeal's Apprentice, Zack Fair. They were laughing and getting along. They both grabbed some food and looked around for somewhere to sit.

Angeal looked to Genesis who sighed and raised his hand to wave them over. Zack was all but bouncing in excitement. Aradia was a bit more contained, slightly intimidated by the prospect of eating with her superiors. She looked over at Zack and shook her head.

"You're like a puppy." She told him. "I get the feeling that you're going to wiz all over the floor. Settle down or I'll get a newspaper."

Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth all heard her, though the rest of the people seemed oblivious, and started laughing as Zack blushed a deep red and they took their seats. Aradia straddled her chair, sitting in it with the back to her chest as she ate.

"Unfortunately, I can't stick around long." She told them. "I have to go over to Med bay soon."

"Why?" Genesis asked.

"Injection." She told him. "It's a girl thing."

No more questions were asked as the meal continued in companionable conversation, mostly between Zack and Aradia talking about life as a 2nd Class SOLDIER.

* * *

**A/n: **

**The Hare: **Hattress went for a nap, Kthnx. Hope you liked it. Drop us a review and let us know what you thought. Reviews are to us what Mako is to Aradia. *wink*

See you all next time.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **

**The Hattress: **Okay, so I noticed that the first chapter didn't get as much attention as we were hoping and because of that, I convinced Hare to post the second chapter early. We have a few chapters written already but we hadn't originally planned on posting again till Sunday. Anyhow, don't be afraid to review and tell us what you think!

**The Hare: **Ya'll are lucky, cause I was perfectly content to make you wait until Sunday as originally planned. Hattress is far too nice sometimes. Anyway, here's chapter 2.

**D/c:** We don't own anything but Aradia and any plot points not recognized from the FFVII game. Anything you do recognize belongs to Square Enix, and hey, we're not making any money off of this. This was just fun.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Aradia was tired.

Genesis had woken her up at the crack of dawn and dragged her off to the training room from there he'd proceeded to test her abilities himself … with his own sword.

She was tired, she was sore, and she was pissed.

Genesis was smirking at her. "Come on, Aradia. You're never going to make First at this rate."

Aradia growled and charged him again. She brought her sword around and slammed into his. She used his parry to her advantage and kicked Genesis away from her, sending him to the ground a few feet away. She smirked as she charged him again. She had him now.

She planted her sword in the ground next to his head and grinned.

Genesis smirked. "Very good." He said. "As long as your opponent isn't using Materia." He brought up his left hand, glowing red.

"Aradia barely had enough time to activate a blocking Materia before she was blown across the room. The damage to her person from the initial blast was minimal. However, the pain she'd felt before was nothing compared to the pain resulting from the impact.

Genesis rose and walked over to her, replacing his sword on his back. Aradia reached for her own sword but winced as the movement sent shockwaves of pain rippling through her body. She lay her head back against the cold floor of the training room and sighed.

Genesis crouched down next to her and rested his wrists on either knee. "I can see what they meant about your skill, but you're obviously still operating under the misguided conception that all fights are fair. You have to be ready for your opponent to do anything."

Aradia forced herself to sit up and nodded. "So what next?"

Genesis laughed. "I think we're done for the day, Aradia. You can barely move and your body is still jarred from the impact."

Aradia snorted. "I'm fine."

"And stubborn." Genesis told her. "We're done. Angeal wants to run a simulation with Zack, anyway. Come on, I'll help you to MedBay."

Aradia shook her head as Genesis pulled her to her feet. "Not MedBay." She replied, her face hard. "Carin will just lecture me about being a female in a male industry. I'll be fine here soon." She let go of Genesis and picked up her sword.

Genesis shook his head and led her out of the room, forcing himself not to think about the feel of her petite form against him.

Genesis led her to the now vacant commons area. Everyone was either on missions or taking advantage of their day off.

"So tell me about yourself, Aradia." Genesis demanded. "We're going to be working together, so we should at least get to know each other."

"Aradia shrugged. "There's nothing to tell. I've been out of society for eight years." Her eyes darkened to near pitch black, glowing with Mako energy as her voice deadpanned. "I was forced from my home and thrown into hell until I was recruited by SOLDIER because of my skill" She blinked and her eyes returned to normal. "What about you?" She asked in her usual alto.

Genesis was floored. "Those eight years really did a number on you, didn't they?"

Aradia shrugged. "You have no idea. So, tell me about you. I mean, I've heard the reputation and gossip from Zack, but I really know nothing about you."

Genesis smiled. "I grew up in a wealthy family from a small town called Banora. Angeal and I grew up together."

Aradia nodded. She'd known that part. Zack loved to talk about Angeal. However, Aradia had an inexplicable urge to hear it all from Genesis. "Did you always want to be a part of SOLDIER?"

Genesis laughed. "I knew for most of my life I would join Shinra and SOLDIER. When I was younger, I had this dream of being a decorated hero … just like Sephiroth was and is." Aradia heard the irritated note in his voice. "However, that appears to be Sephiroth's lot in life." There it was.

"You still have time, you know." Aradia pointed out as she flopped down into a plush chair and dropped her legs over the arm. "You're not dead, yet. _Legend shall speak, Of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface. Quietly, but surely._"

Genesis stared at her. "You've read Loveless?" he leaned forward in his chair.

Aradia nodded. "Only once, though. It was between coming here and being assigned to work with you. I was so tired and I was trying to retain as much information as possible."

Genesis smiled at her. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

Aradia grinned. "I did love it. I just had so much else that I had to read through that I never got back to it and then I was cleared to start training and that was it."

Genesis laughed as Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack walked up.

"What's so funny?" Sephiroth asked.

Genesis smirked at him. "My darling little protégé and I have found something in common, My friend. She's actually read Loveless, unlike the rest of you."

The three men stared at Aradia.

"What?" she asked, staring owlishly back at them. "I liked the book."

Sephiroth and Angeal joined in the laughter while Zack just stood their a bit lost. They all took seats around the area. Sephiroth turned to Aradia. "So how was your training this morning?"

Aradia shot a glare over at Genesis. "He's a slave driver."

Angeal and Sephiroth laughed again while Genesis blinked at her before smirking. Angeal checked the clock on the wall. "Who's hungry? Its just about lunch time."

Aradia looked over at Genesis who had an irritated look on his face. "Great, Mess food." He grumbled. They all rose and made their way down.

Aradia sighed as she took in the four men with her. Sephiroth held an air about him of utter calm. Just the way he moved seemed utterly relaxed. It made her want to smack him upside the head just to see what would happen.

Angeal held that regal air that you expected of a First Class SOLDIER. She knew from Zack that he was all about Honor. He believed that without honor, there was nothing.

Zack just reminded her of an excitable puppy. He was always ready to go but he was easily excited. He was always making comments that just didn't register in her brain. She had vague memories from her youth of the older kids flirting and going on dates and the like, but she'd never experienced it herself until she met Zack. She didn't much care for it. On the other side, he was also a good friend to have and a great companion and comrade.

And then there was Genesis. He was a complete enigma to her, but she found herself enjoying his company and wanting more and more to spend time with him. She knew that they would be working closely because of her assignment as his apprentice, but she hoped that they would also be friends.

They arrived in the Mess Hall and got their food, making their way to the same table that they'd sat at last night.

"Hey, New Girl." One of the other men in the room called. "Why don't you come join us. We're going off to have some fun later."

Aradia just stared at the man that had called to her and his companions. There were three of them, all significantly weaker than herself. She recognized their uniform as Infantry.

She also heard the slight growl coming from Genesis and at a glance could see the glares on the faces of her companions. Genesis looked particularly murderous as a snarl formed on his lips.

Aradia didn't quite know how to respond to that so she went with the first comment that came to mind. "I'm sorry, did you say something, miss?" She asked politely. "I'm afraid I couldn't hear you over the sound of insufferable narcissism."

Zack sputtered as he started laughing with Angeal and Sephiroth. Genesis' features morphed into a proud look. The five of them continued to their table as if nothing had been said, leaving the infantrymen staring after her, completely dumbfounded.

Genesis looked over at her. "You shouldn't have to deal with that. Infantrymen can be completely insufferable at times."

Aradia shrugged. "I guess I'm just going to have to come up with some halfway decent comebacks for comments like that, aren't I? I mean, I can't rely on other people to fight my battles for me otherwise I'll never be able to prove myself."

Genesis looked like he was going to say something when Angeal cut in. "She has a point, Genesis. She's a member of SOLDIER and as such shouldn't have to rely on everyone else to fight her battles for her. Least of all, us."

Genesis remained silent as he picked at his food.

Aradia sighed and took a few bites of her food. "You know, I'm not a very good cook, but even my food is more edible than this."

Genesis looked over at her. "You cook?"

"Not well." Aradia muttered. "But I've been trying to get better. I can cook basic things. I'm hoping to use that Kitchenette in my rooms sometime soon." She smiled at the guys.

Zack grinned again. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to entertain company …"

Angeal glared at him and smacked him upside the back of his head. They continued their meal in a companionable silence until all three Firsts' phones rang.

Genesis saw the number and scowled. "Excuse us." He said, getting up. Angeal and Sephiroth followed suit as the three of them moved out into the hall.

Zack and Aradia stared after them.

"I wonder what that was about." Zack said, looking around. None of the other officers that had appeared as they were eating had been called. Just the three of them.

"Well, they are the highest valued Firsts in ShinRa." Aradia said.

Zack nodded. "So, what about your training this morning?"

Aradia sighed as she rolled her shoulders. "Like I said earlier, Genesis is a slave driver. He decided that he wanted to test my skills himself. He beat me, of course, but I managed to hold my own."

Zack nodded. "Wait until he sets you on missions in the training room." he rested his face in his hand. "Some of those things are hard."

Aradia laughed. "I believe it. It can't be easy to make First, other wise we'd never have lower ranked men."

Zack nodded as the other three made their way back into the room.

Genesis rested a hand on the back of Aradia's chair and leaned over her ear. "The two of us are wanted in Director Lazard's office, immediately."

Aradia looked up at him and nodded. She rose from her seat and waved to Zack, Angeal, and Sephiroth. They made their way through the halls to the elevator.

"I don't suppose you could tell me what this is about." Aradia muttered sullenly. She hated Lazard with a passion. She'd had regular meetings with him for the time that she was down healing from her stint in the outside world. The last thing she wanted was for daily progress meetings now that she was actually working.

"Something about your training." Genesis said in a bored tone. "He wouldn't really say."

Aradia nodded. Of course.

"_My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow, No matter where the winds may blow__." _Genesis said as they ascended.

Aradia looked up at him. "Loveless?"

Genesis nodded. "Act III." He smiled down at her. "Appropriate."

Aradia nodded. The elevator halted it's progress with a slight bump before the doors slid open. Aradia followed Genesis into the Director's office. She stood slightly behind Genesis as Lazard turned to face them from his computer.

"Aradia, good to see you again." Lazard said, smiling at her. Aradia resisted the urge to cringe and duck behind Genesis. This man really didn't make her feel comfortable. "And how have you been since our last meeting?"

"Well." Aradia said.

"Good, good." Lazard said. He turned his eyes to Genesis and smiled wider. "So, what do you plan on doing for her training?"

And it was straight to business, Aradia thought. Goddess forbid the man actually leave you alone for a little while.

"For the moment we're going to stick to one on one training until I feel she's able to read opponents well enough to take on one of the simulated missions." Genesis said. "Her training history isn't very thorough, so I don't know what I need to work on."

Lazard nodded. "I don't have all of the information, myself. President Shinra has classified most of it and only himself and the few top scientists of Shinra has access to it."

Genesis nodded. "After her assessment today, that seems to be one of the only issues. Its only her perception in battle that needs work, and she learns quickly, so she should be running missions in no time."

Lazard nodded. "When she's ready, we already have her first mission lined up. Keep us informed, Genesis."

Genesis nodded and saluted before turning to walk out. Aradia followed suit and couldn't suppress her shudder after they were in the elevator.

Genesis shot her a curious look. "What's wrong?"

"There's something off about that man." Aradia murmured. "I don't like him. I may keep my tongue because he's my superior, but I really don't like him."

Genesis nodded. "Few of us do. Personally, I've harbored a dislike for the man for some time." Genesis winked at her. "He likes to wake me up long before I'm ready to get up."

Aradia laughed. The more she learned about Genesis, the more endeared she became to him. He wore his emotions on his sleeves. He wasn't afraid to joke around, and he enjoyed spending time with his friends. Perhaps she could learn something about how to live in the outside again from him. The place she was raised in for most of her latter life, it was pure hell. They lived on a rigorous schedule, and any deviation was a hindrance to the project. Perhaps now she would have the ability to learn something about living as a normal person again.

* * *

**A/n: **

**The Hare:** See, look, *points* it's chapter 2. And now it's done. And now you WILL have to wait until Sunday to see the next chap, cause I'm not nearly as nice as Miss Hattress is. And this time, I'm putting another stipulation on it. 3 reviews. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

**The Hattress:** So there it is, chapter two in all its glory and don't worry, things will begin to pick up soon and we'll be getting to the main plot.

**The Hare:** See you all next time *wink* and DON'T forget to review if you want to see what happens next.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

- Just because we're insane, doesn't mean you have to treat us like it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **

**The Hattress:** Okay, so it's Sunday again and you know what that means: Update! This was the longest week ever for this but I resisted and waited. Well here it is and I hope you all enjoy. There should be some drama approaching so keep a weather eye out for it!

**The Hare:** Yeah great, Sunday ….. That's fantastic. Do you KNOW how irritating it is to work with this woman sometimes!!!! UGH!!!!! I had to fight with her to wait, that's what happened. Don't let her fool you.

**D/c: Hare:** Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core and all related characters, places, and plots belong to Square Enix. Aradia and anything that isn't related to the afore mentioned game belongs to the Lovely Hattress. I just write it.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

Aradia sighed as she moved around her room. Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth were coming into her rooms tonight for dinner. Zack, unfortunately, wasn't able to make it. He was either on a date or running an errand for Director Lazard. Genesis, she knew, was rather excited to not have to eat Mess Hall food. Angeal and Sephiroth, however, gave no indication of why they were coming.

In the month since her assignment as Genesis' apprentice for First, she'd learned so much more about life outside Deep Ground than she ever expected to. Genesis and Angeal were a great help in this. Sephiroth was as well, when he was around. He was on missions more often than not, but the three of them had a great friendship. Aradia felt privileged to be a part of their little group when she wasn't out running idiot errands herself.

While the Turks took care of Sector Eight, that left SOLDIER to take care of the rest of the city. More often than not she and Zack were sent out to take care of any annoying disturbances in the other areas. Genesis called it practice for any big jobs that they would be forced to do once they made First. Aradia called them annoyances.

Her training was coming along nicely as well. Genesis was proud of her progress. He'd finally allowed her to move on to the virtual missions. Lazard had been pleased when that happened. They were looking for her to make First quickly so that they could put her unique skills to good use, or so they thought. Aradia was little more useful than your average SOLDIER. The higher ups seemed to think that because she was a product of the Deep Ground research then she'd come out with some extra power. This wasn't the case, they just didn't know that yet.

She looked up at the clock as she finished preparing the main course of the meal. She'd opted for something simple and elegant. She didn't exactly know what it was called cause her mother had never told her, but she knew what it needed and how to cook it. She was actually quite proud of the fact that it had turned out so well. It wouldn't be long before Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth arrived.

She heard the knock at her door and sighed. Speak of the devil. She walked over to answer it and smiled as the guys made their way into the room.

Angeal looked around. "You haven't had a chance to decorate yet?"

Aradia shook her head and shot a glare at Genesis. "Someone keeps me on a pretty tight training schedule, on top of the Director's orders that are sending me all over Midgar. I haven't had a chance to do anything. I was lucky to get the food for tonight."

Sephiroth smiled. "We'll have to make a day out of it. You shouldn't be forced to look at these walls. Far to dreary for a future First."

Aradia looked at him a little stunned and he smiled. "I like the sound of that." She said with a smile. Over the last month she'd spent next to none of her money. She had a pretty good chunk of change saved up.

Genesis threw his arm around her shoulder. "We'll have to see if we can work it in around her training." He grinned down at her and Aradia glared, elbowing him in the stomach. "What, you've still got a lot to work on?"

Angeal rolled his eyes. "Her life can't be all work and no play, Genesis. Even the three of us need time to take a break."

Genesis nodded. "I know, I know. Relax. I was joking."

Aradia shrugged out from under Genesis' arm with a roll of her eyes. "If you three are done, dinner is ready."

The three glanced at each other before following her into the kitchen.

"I had to improvise with the accompanying fruit, but otherwise it's all the way I could remember it." Aradia told them. "My mother used to use a local fruit that grew around Rocket Town. Here, the only thing close I could find is what the clerk at the store called 'dumb apples'."

Genesis and Angeal shared a look before taking their plates and looking around. "Where do we sit, Dia?" Genesis asked.

"Just go sit down around the sitting room, Genesis." Aradia told him, serving Sephiroth his food. "I obviously don't have a table, let alone the room for one. They found the smallest room they could find up here to stick me in."

Genesis nodded and shared another look with Angeal. As they walked into the other room Angeal glanced at Genesis. "Have you noticed her random mood swings? They've gotten better, but there are still times when she just snaps."

Genesis nodded. "She's getting better, but she's been removed from society for a long time. Even her file has her off the map for eight years."

Sephiroth and Aradia came out of the kitchen and sat down as well. Aradia smiled at them as she started eating her food. She thought it had turned out quite well. It tasted exactly as she remembered it from when she was a child.

The males were pleasantly surprised when they found the food more than edible. It was fantastic.

Sephiroth was smirking as he eyed Genesis and Angeal. "Aradia, did you know that Genesis and Angeal were born and raised in the area where these apples come from? They called Banora White apples."

Aradia looked up at Genesis and Angeal in question. "No kidding?"

Angeal shot a glare at Sephiroth while Genesis nodded.

"Yes, we are." Genesis told her. "Dumbapples are the biggest export in Banora. My family actually funds the factory."

"While the rest of the towns people just work there." Angeal added. "But a good majority of the profits goes back into the city proper and maintaining the trees around it so that we don't run out."

"That's amazing." Aradia said, tilting her head to the side. "If I remember right, most of the people around where I grew up would have been more concerned about keeping the Gil they made rather than reinvesting it in the upkeep of the city. Most people are working with the space program there anyway, from what I remember. Not much of the money that comes into the city goes into the pockets of the people."

Once dinner was done and Aradia had done the dishes up she caught a look at the clock. She sighed as she leaned against the counter for a moment, listening to the guys talking in the main room. She liked this. She liked the camaraderie that she'd gained with them.

Genesis walked in and smiled at her. "So what's the plan for the rest of the night?"

Aradia shrugged. "I honestly hadn't thought past dinner. I don't have a clue what there is to do around Midgar because _someone_ hasn't let me out of the building except on missions since I got here, and before that I was confined to a medical room." She sent him a playful glare and a smile as she started stacking the dishes in her cupboard.

They walked back into the living room and Angeal and Sephiroth caught the look in Genesis' eyes.

"If you have any intention of taking her to see that production of Loveless, I'm going to have to bow out." Sephiroth told him. "I don't mind it much coming from you, but anything else can be considered excessive."

"There's a production of it?" Aradia asked, looking up at Genesis hopefully.

Angeal groaned and nodded. "Yes, there is. It's fairly recent, actually. Even Genesis hasn't gone to see it yet cause he doesn't want to go _alone_."

Genesis shot a glare at his friends. "Thank you for that assessment, Angeal." He muttered. "Well, if you two are going to bow out, then I'll just take Aradia with me."

Aradia grinned. "That's fantastic. I'd love to go."

Genesis smirked at his friends. Then go get ready and I'll come get you so we can leave."

Aradia nodded and dashed off to her room after hugging Sephiroth and Angeal. Genesis smiled after her as he and his friends got up and walked out of the room.

Sephiroth was shaking his head. "When are you going to tell her that you have feelings for her, Genesis."

Genesis looked away from his friend. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Sephiroth."

"Liar." Angeal said, throwing his arm around his long time friend. "You know exactly what he's talking about. Even Zack noticed. It's why he backed off of her."

Genesis stared at his friends. Had he really been _that_ obvious over the last month? He knew that hew as attracted to his young protégée, but he hadn't realized that even the Puppy had noticed it. Besides the fact that it was generally something frowned upon in the ShinRa company. He didn't care, of course. He was more concerned with how Aradia would react if he found out.

"You two are being a pain." He said as he reached his room. "I'll see you tomorrow, right? In the training room?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Almost everyone will be out tomorrow, so we should be safe."

Genesis nodded and made his way into his room to get dressed as well.

**

* * *

**

When Genesis arrived at Aradia's door less than an hour later, he was greeted with a sight that took his breath away. Aradia was dressed in an elegant dark blue gown with no sleeves that hung to just past her knees and a pair of dark strappy heels that made her legs seem considerably longer. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant pony tail with her bangs curled to artfully frame her face.

"You look amazing." Genesis said before he could stop himself.

"Thanks." Aradia said with a smile. "You don't look half bad yourself, Commander."

Genesis had decided on a red button up shirt and a pair of black slacks with a pair of his more comfortable boots. He smiled at her as he offered her is arm. She snagged her purse and a wrap before taking his arm and following him down the hall. She couldn't contain the grin on her face.

"I really can't wait." Aradia told him.

Genesis laughed. "I'm not surprised. You've read the book a dozen times since Angeal got you a copy."

Aradia laughed. "I can't help it. I drives me crazy that we don't know how it ends!"

Genesis laughed with her. "You're not the only one, believe me."

The made their way out of the building, gaining a few concerned or jealous stares. Aradia made a distinct note of the three males that had all but insulted her. All three of them were seething with what she could now identify as jealousy. She'd recognized the look on Rosso's face many times, though she'd never understood what it meant or who it was directed at until recently.

Genesis didn't seem to notice any of them. He seemed more focused on her.

**

* * *

**

Aradia smiled as they took their seats in the Theatre House on, ironically enough, Loveless Drive. Genesis sat down next to her and smiled as he passed her the program he was handed when they walked in. Aradia smiled in return and took it, reading through it quickly as the lights dimmed and the curtain fell.

Aradia fell deeper in love with the story and could feel feelings for the man sitting next to her begin to stir. It didn't help that he was quoting the lines from the play in her ear as she was having trouble hearing them. The acoustics in this Theater were horrible.

Aradia smiled as he finished with a quote that she had said to him a month ago. "_Legend shall speak, Of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface. Quietly, but surely._"

Aradia turned to him and smiled as they made their way through the crowds.

"So, what did you think?" Genesis asked, looking down at her as they stepped onto the cool streets, drenched in the glow of the street lights. Night had fallen while they were in the theater. Aradia felt somewhat exposed.

"I thought it was wonderful." Aradia told him, now distracted by the sights and sounds of the streets of Midgar by night.

Genesis looked around. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Aradia said, still staring off around her. "I'm just not comfortable out here without a weapon, for some reason." She knew why. She knew that in the darkness lurked monsters that the human population could never fathom. She knew that in the darkness, pain could come."

Genesis nodded. "Come on, then, we'll get back to the Manor."

Aradia nodded and followed him. It had been a wonderful night up until now. With unease seeping into her very bone, she only knew that she wanted to return home now. All other thoughts of the evening had since fled her mind.

They arrived at the manor quickly and made their way up to the floor with the First's rooms on it. Genesis walked Aradia to her door with a faint smile on his features.

"We'll have to do this again sometime." He said, still holding her hand.

Aradia nodded. "I had a fantastic time, Genesis. I'm sorry about weirding out once we got outside."

Genesis smiled at her. "Think nothing of it, Aradia. I understand. You haven't been without your sword since arriving in Midgar. It's completely understandable."

Aradia smiled at him as her reached up to trace his thumb over the crescent shaped mark over her eye. "Thank you for tonight, Genesis."

"You're welcome, Dia." Genesis said. His Mako infused aqua eyes flicked to her lips briefly before settling on her own. He leaned in slightly and Aradia moved to meet him.

A loud thundering interrupted them as none other than Zack came thundering up to their floor. "ARADIA!" he yelled. He skidded to a halt a few feet from them. Taking in the two, Genesis with his hand on Aradia's cheek, Aradia with her hand on Genesis' chest, he paused. "Did I interrupt something?"

Aradia sighed and kissed Genesis on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be a little late for our meeting, but I'll be there." She told him.

Genesis nodded. "Alright." He pulled away and glared at Zack as he stalked down the room.

Aradia turned to her door. "Come on in, Zack, I have some leftovers from dinner for you."

Zack glanced after Genesis. "Sure." He followed her in. "What was that about, Dia?"

"Nothing. We went to see a play." Aradia told him. "We were just saying good night."

Zack nodded and sat down on the floor as she brought him the promised plate. She walked towards her room, pulling her hair out of it's tie. "Give me a moment and I'll be with you. Just let me change."

"Sure thing." Zack said around a mouthful of food.

Aradia changed into a pair of soft cotton pants and a tank top. It was her usual sleep attire. She brushed out her hair and made her way back into the living room. "So where were you, tonight?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Sector Five." Zack told her. "A few monsters making some trouble. Nothing major. How they got into Midgar in the first place is a mystery, but Kunsel and I got rid of them easily enough."

"Good to hear it." Aradia said as she sat down with her book. "I was wondering what you were doing out so late."

Zack shrugged. "We decided to go do something and get some shopping done before we came back. The notice said that we had some free time when we were done."

Aradia smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

"So what's this meeting that you have with Genesis coming up?" Zack asked.

Aradia shrugged. "A briefing, basically. Genesis and I are being sent into Wutai. The Company is getting tired of this silly war we're in, so they've decided to send people in to take out their main unit and collapse the whole of the Wutai army."

Zack looked up at her. "How long are you going to be gone?"

"We don't know." Aradia said. "After Genesis and I are done talking strategy, then we have a meeting with Lazard the day after."

Zack nodded. "Must be nice to meet the Director in person."

Aradia rolled her eyes. "Sure, if you're a guy. Genesis has no problem with him, other than the fact that he wakes Genesis up entirely too early for his liking. On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned, he's just like every other shallow minded male in this place."

Zack nodded. "Some of the infantry are rather immature."

They talked for a few more hours before Aradia kicked Zack out and went to bed. She was exhausted and that almost kiss with Genesis was wearing heavily on her mind.

* * *

**A/n: **

**Hare:** We would like to thank all of you for your readership and we would thank you even more for your reviews. That's all for today.

**The Hattress:** Be on the watch next Sunday for chapter 4. Even if I have to poke The Hare with a stick.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

-Insanity is one of the beauties in life, so why does everyone run in fear.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: The Hattress:** This is a big deal for me, getting chapter 4 posted. Why's that? Because for a long time there, I couldn't seem to be able to get more then 3 chapters written and even now on my own profile page, I only have three one-shots posted for Bleach. So yeah really happy here.

Hare, you care to take the AN from here?

**Hare**: Sure. So here we go with Chapter 4. Lets hope its up to the standards of our beloved little readers. And I mean little. There's only a few of you. What gives?

**Hattress**: HARE!!!

**Hare**: Sorry. Anyway, here you go. Chapter 4. Aradia's injections and Genesis' injury.

**D/c: Hare**: We don't own FFVII. At all. Nothing. Nodda. Zilch! Hell, I don't own ANYTHING!!! Aradia belongs to Hattress.

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Aradia sighed as she lay down on the medical table, the events of the previous night coming to the forefront of her mind. She was in for her injection today. She knew that she would be here for a few hours, giving her ample time to think about what had happened with Genesis the night before.

If it hadn't been for Zack, Genesis would have kissed her, and she would have let him. It wasn't entirely the most romantic moment of her life, but still … she'd have been kissed by her commanding officer. The thought alone sent a pleasurable chill down her spine. She glanced over at Dr. Hollander. He was the one that administered her injections. He was preparing one now. She sighed as she readied herself.

She hated this part of her life. She hated the scientists in Deep Ground. She would never be normal again. She would always be a tool of destruction.

She looked up with a gasp as the door opened.

* * *

Genesis growled as he made his way to the Medical Wing, clutching his shoulder. That little toy of Angeal's was really starting to hurt. In the few hours since he'd done it, it hadn't stopped bleeding.

He was also irritated that Aradia hadn't shown up for their meeting. They were supposed to be discussing their upcoming deployment to Wutai with several other Seconds and Thirds. He wanted to make sure that she was ready for an major assignment like this.

He opened the door and froze in shock as he saw what lay beyond. Aradia was laying on one of the beds with Dr. Hollander standing over her with a needle containing a glowing green substance pushed into her arm.

She looked over at him with bright, wide, eyes. "Genesis …" She whispered.

Hollander, undeterred, stepped away from her with a now empty syringe. "Commander Rhapsodos, good to see you." He said. "What can I do for you today?"

Genesis ignored him and stared at Aradia. "What was that?"

Aradia moved to sit up but fell back down as a wave of dizziness hit her. It was something that usually came with her injections. "Mako."

"Why?" Genesis asked.

"Because without it I'll die." Aradia told him, covering her eyes with her arm, willing the dizziness and nausea to pass. "I'd really love to explain it to you, Genesis, but at the moment I can barely focus enough to keep myself from throwing up. Can we discuss this later?"

"You damn well bet we're going to discuss this later." Genesis told her, his voice hard.

Aradia sighed. "Why did you come here, Genesis?"

He shook his head as his shoulder twinged. "I need the good doctor to look at something for me."

"Step through here, then, Commander Rhapsodos." Hollander said. "I will be with you in just a moment." The man went to pull a curtain and Genesis stopped him.

"You might as well leave it open." Genesis told him. "I like to be able to look at someone when I'm talking to them."

"She won't be doing much talking." Hollander informed him. "It takes all of her willpower to resist the urge to throw up. We usually just close her off and let her fight it."

Genesis glared at the man, sending him all but running in the opposite direction. Hollander sighed as he shook his head. "What can I do for you, Genesis?"

"I cut my shoulder open earlier." Genesis told her. "I was in the training room with Angeal and Sephiroth. Things got a little heated and the sword that Angeal had broke."

One of the other workers, Carin, sighed. "You were using Materia on your sword again, weren't you, Genesis. I've told you a thousand times that you can't do that against the mass produced ShinRa swords. They're not built to withstand it like the three of yours are."

Genesis glared at her. "Can we skip the lecture, please?"

Carin shook her head. "You know the drill, pretty boy. Strip off the coat and the shirt."

Genesis nodded. He shrugged out of his coat and sat down on the bed, pulling off the straps around his shoulders. He pulled his shirt over his head with a wince as the fabric detached from the gaping wound. He glanced at it and sighed. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it wouldn't stop bleeding.

Hollander walked away, muttering to himself. Genesis thought nothing of it. The man was genuinely strange, and often muttered to himself.

Carin walked back over and looked at his shoulder. "That one is nasty, isn't it?" She asked, pulling out some supplies to clean it. "Well, lets get it cleaned up so that Dr. Hollander can take a look at it."

Aradia looked over at Carin. "What's it going to take, Carin?"

"I don't know." Carin told her. "Probably a Mako injection. Hollander is the only one with authorization to administer those, however. And you're going to need to rest, Genesis. You can't keep up your insane training regimen with an injury like this."

Genesis glared at her. "It's fine, Carin. Just tell Hollander to get on with it. I don't have all day."

"Actually, you do." Aradia murmured. "I'm obviously in no condition to have any sort of meeting and you're soon to be in the same position."

Genesis snorted. "Not all of us react to Mako like you do, Aradia."

Aradia shot him a one eyed glare before making herself more comfortable against her pillows. "Be that way then."

Carin nodded. "I'm going to try and stem the bleeding until Hollander can get up here and take a look at it."

Genesis nodded and looked over at Aradia who had returned to her previous position. "How long does that last?"

"A couple hours." Aradia told him. "It's incredibly irritating to have to deal with but it's been a part of my life for eight years. Once a month, every month, without fail, I have to come in here and get the injection otherwise I wont survive."

Genesis gave her a concerned look. "I don't understand why." he winced as Carin started poking at his wound. "Every ShinRa SOLDIER gets the injection, but none of them react the way you do and none of them need them as often."

Aradia smiled. "I'm not like most SOLDIER troops, Genesis. There's a lot about my past that you don't know. I'll tell you, when I'm feeling up to it and we have a moment alone."

Carin huffed. "Not even the medical staff knows why she has to have them, and she won't tell any of us, so consider yourself lucky."

"I've told you before, Carin, if I could tell you, I would, but then you'd die." Aradia murmured.

Carin glanced over at her as she finished bandaging Genesis' shoulder. "Don't go to sleep, Aradia. You know what happened last time."

"I know." Aradia snarled at her.

Carin walked away and Genesis watched her go. "Aradia, tell me. No one is around."

Aradia sighed. "I told you that I'd been removed from society for eight years." She didn't wait for a response. "The reason for that is because I was taken from my home by the 13th unit. The Lost SOLDIER unit. I was taken into hell, Genesis. Deep Ground."

Genesis stared. "That's a rumor."

Aradia shook her head. "It's true. It exists. I spent eight years in there. It resulted in a Mako dependency that they can't cure. Once a month I have to get the injections otherwise I will die within forty-eight hours of my injection. Its why it took so long for them to actually put me on the active roster. When I was found, after leaving Deep Ground, I was weak. I couldn't fight anymore. I was ready to die. I was getting close to my injection time. I didn't object because the ones who found me knew what and who I was. I wasn't ready to die. Not after I had just gained my freedom."

Genesis was stunned to say the least. "And there's nothing that they can do for it?"

Aradia shook her head slightly. "No. Nothing."

Hollander walked back over with another syringe. "Alright, Genesis, you know how this works."

Genesis nodded and took the injection without pause. "Is that all?"

Hollander shook his head. "Nope. Because it won't stop bleeding, we're going to keep you here for observation. Hopefully the Mako will help it to heal, but we want to be able to keep an eye on you. You'd better make yourself comfortable. You're in for a long night. Lets hope this works."

Genesis nodded and lay back on the bed. He lay there for a while, waiting for Araida to be feeling better. When she finally sat up he looked over. "Are you alright?"

Aradia nodded. "It usually lasts a few hours with minor residual effects." She told him. "I'm more worried about you." She walked over and leaned over him, looking at his shoulder. "It's still bleeding."

"I was worried about that." Hollander said, walking up. "Aradia, you're free to go. Genesis is definitely going to have to stay over night."

Aradia nodded. "I'll see you next month, Dr. Hollander."

Hollander nodded and Aradia waved to Genesis as she turned and walked out of the room.

Once outside, she ran into Sephiroth and Angeal. She froze for a second. "Hello, guys." She said, smiling.

"Aradia, is Genesis in there?" Angeal asked.

Aradia nodded, looking over her shoulder. "I've never seen a wound bleed like that." She murmured. "You'll have to talk to Hollander to get the technicals, but it looks bad, even for a minor wound."

Sephiroth and Angeal watched her walk off. They shared a look.

"I take it you've noticed as well?" Sephiroth asked Angeal as they leaned against the wall.

"How much she cares about him? Of course." Angeal sighed. "Even Zack and some of the other Seconds and Thirds have noticed. It's hard to miss it you spend more than five minutes with them together."

"And, of course, there's the little fact that he feels the same way about her, if not more so given that he isn't emotionally cut off like she is." Sephiroth added.

Angeal nodded as Hollander came out of the room. "Well?"

"I've tried a Mako injection, but it isn't working." Hollander told them.

"Isn't their some other way to treat him?" Sephiroth asked.

Hollander nodded. "But first we have to get him some blood."

"I'll …" Hollander cut Sephiroth off before he could even start his sentence, motioning Angeal forward. "You won't do, Sephiroth. I'm sorry."

Sephiroth sat back with a frown as Angeal and Hollander disappeared into the room that held Genesis.

* * *

Aradia stood at her window that night with a sigh, Hating what she was and where she came from. She knew that one day she would have to tell Genesis everything, but she sincerely hoped that, when that day came, they would be closer and it wouldn't be something that could tear them apart. Last night proved to her what she already knew she felt. She wanted her commander. She wasn't sure if he wanted her as well or if he was just that wrapped up in the moment, the comraderie brought on by a shared interest, or what it was. However. She was certain of her own feelings.

She was beginning to care more than she probably should for Commander Genesis Rhapsodos.

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** Hattress bailed for this author's note. She's gone momentarily mute. *hides the rope and duct tape* Anyway, Hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 5 is going to be a doozy of a chapter, so I hope you're in it for the long haul.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

You don't mock the insane. The insane mock you.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: Hattress: **Okay, we're aware this is a bit early but dear Miss Hare has to hop off for a few days. She'll be back on Tuesday but that's much too late for our dear readers. So really, we hope you enjoy this chapter! Give us lots of reviews because I'm turning 21 on Monday!

**Hare:** Yeah, well, my life sucks right now, so I'm running away for a few days. Sorry.

**D/c: Hare**: We don't own shit. What isn't recognizable is Hattress'.

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Araida sat back in her chair as Genesis read his book. Loveless again. He always had it with him. He was absolutely devoted to living by that book.

Genesis glanced over at Aradia when she moved. She'd been down there every day since his blood transfusion. It was interesting to see what would come of their time together. Mostly they sat in silence, each waiting for the other to say something. It never came. The one time they did talk, Hollander had come in before anything important could be said, and they both knew that there was a lot that needed to be said between them.

Genesis was bored, however. He was sick of looking at the dull grey metal walls of the medical bay. The only splash of color was his own hair. Everything from the dividing curtains to the beds were done in boring slate grays and whites.

Aradia sighed. "Should I come back tomorrow, then?" She finally asked as she crossed her arms and legs. It meant she was irritated, Genesis had learned quickly. She'd done it numerous times to him in the past week.

"What's wrong?" Genesis asked, not looking away from his book. "You only huff and pout like that when you're irritated." He'd had ample time to observe her during these visits. He thought he knew her body language quite well.

"Nothing." Aradia snorted. "Just a few idiots from Infantry giving me trouble again. Nothing I can't handle."

Genesis shook his head and put his book down. "I highly doubt that that's the only problem you're having."

Aradia glared at him and rose from her seat. "I'll see you tomorrow." She muttered.

Genesis sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "When are you coming in for your next injection?"

Aradia froze. Genesis smirked. That's what she was getting irritable about. He knew that it had been nearly a month since he'd been here so it would be soon.

"Tomorrow." Aradia told him. "I'll be here some time around noon. I've got a training session with Zack and Angeal in the morning."

"Is that who they have you working with while I'm here?" Genesis asked.

Aradia nodded. "It was Angeal or Sephiroth and Sephiroth is playing errand boy for the President." She shook her head. "I'll see you tomorrow." and she was gone.

Genesis sighed and sat back in his bed. She was usually like that. It wasn't unusual for her to have mood swings, and it wasn't unusual for her to go completely cold on them.

Genesis looked up as Hollander walked over. He was usually gone by now, back to wherever it was he holed up in the manor. "Hollander." He greeted with the same distance with which he usually treated the man.

"Genesis." Hollander greeted, looking around. They were, of course, alone. It was rather late and the others had already gone to bed. "I need to speak with you."

"Concerning what?" Genesis asked.

"Your origins …" Hollander told him. "And what's going on with you … and what we can do to fix it."

Genesis sat up in his bed a little more. Now he was curious.

* * *

Zack looked over at Aradia as they moved through the training session. "Are you okay, Aradia?"

"I'm fine." Aradia said as she leaned against the stone wall at her back. They were halfway through the simulated training session. It was an infiltration mission. They were being sent into a stronghold to collect a few specific files off of the computer. Anything that could implement ShinRa in a crime. "Get your head in the game and stop worrying about me."

Zack nodded and peered around the corner. The corridor ahead was bare but for a rug and the stone mason walls. No guards were even waiting for them. He looked back at Aradia who was checking the map on her phone. "Which way?"

She checked the map, turning it and scrolling around. "Left."

"Are you sure?" Zack asked. "Angeal said to stay to the right."

Aradia rolled her eyes. "You wanna lead the way? Last I checked, you couldn't read a map to save your life."

Zack sighed. "Lets just go. God, you're moody."

Aradia smacked him upside the head before diving down the left path and at a run. She didn't draw her sword but clenched her fists, causing her newly acquired arm blades to appear from under her coat sleeves. She smirked as the enemy approached.

"Aradia, non lethal." Zack called to her.

Aradia sighed and unhooked the triggers from around her fingers, allowing her blades to retract as she started moving to knock out the men that were coming after her. Zack took out a few of them, following her down the hallway. They reached the balcony Angeal had told them to find and Aradia smirked. "What did I tell you?" She asked.

The room below them was sparse, having only a few plush wooden chairs and ferns lining the walls while the marble floor shone in the light of the crystal chandelier.

"Pretty fancy." Zack muttered. "Wonder why someone with a house like this would want to get rid of ShinRa."

"Who knows." Aradia muttered as people started entering the room. "Looks like the party is starting. As soon as what's-his-name makes his entrance, we'll go."

Zack nodded. They only had to wait thirty seconds for a man in a basic black tuxedo to make his appearance to everyone's applause.

"Let's go." Zack hissed.

They half walked half crawled towards the door. Once on the other side, Aradia checked her map again, and then the time. "Shit, we better get this done fast. My appointment is in an hour and I still have to get to med bay."

Zack nodded. "Angeal is going to kill me if we blow this."

"Oh, I'm sure Genesis won't be thrilled either." Aradia sighed. They took off down the designated bare hallway again at a run. They didn't meet anyone. It seemed that most of the guards were now running security detail."

"You gotta figure, someone in the tech department has a lot of fun with these programs." Aradia muttered. "Seriously, the detail on the holograms were pretty good."

Zack nodded as they rounded a corner that led to a spiral staircase. "This is it, be ready for anything."

Aradia shot him a withering glare before starting down the stairs at a crawl. Due to the nature of the stone staircase, caution was prevalent.

Zack followed suit. Still nothing.

"Is it just me …" Aradia murmured. "Or is this getting just a little too easy."

Zack nodded. "I like easy."

"I don't." Aradia snapped at him. "It never ends well." Easy meant that the results were bad. She knew from experience.

They reached the computer mainframe and Aradia looked around in shock. Mako Cells. All over the place. Humans and fiends alike were trapped inside. Her mind flashed back to her own copper prison. The blue energy that surrounded her, morphing her into what she was now, leaving her weak and strengthened at the same time.

Her mind froze. Her dropped to the ground and cried out, her fingers instantly locking into the triggers on her arm blades. The blades shot out as she clutched her head.

"No!" She screamed. She charged forward, seeing nothing but the cells in front of her. When her fist made contact with the wall she snapped out of it. Her arm blade was imbedded in wall of the training room, while Angeal and Zack watched her.

"Aradia …" Zack murmured.

Aradia stared at where her hand was still braced against the wall, the blade burried deep. She pulled it out with all casualty and stared at it for a moment before releasing the triggers and letting it retract under her sleeves. She clenched her fist and turned to walk out the door, not even acknowledging the two men behind her.

She returned to her room and stripped out of her gear, leaving her in only her shirt and pants. She walked into the bathroom and ran the water in the sink. She splashed her face a few times before looking up into the mirror. Her dark blue eyes faded completely black and her pupils were dilated. She could feel her heart rate soaring. Had the memory really been that strong? Was the hell she had suffered that resilient; that it had left such a scar in her mind?

The answer was undoubtedly yes. She wouldn't have tried to destroy it if that weren't the case. The faces of Weiss, Nero, Rosso, and Shelke flashed before her mind's eye. She closed her eyes and collapsed on the ground, her hands still clutching the white ceramic sink. How could she have left them behind? How could she have left little Shelke to be brainwashed by Rosso?

There was a knock on her door. "Aradia? Aradia, are you okay?" Angeal's voice floated to her, shocking her out of her stupor. She rose and dried herself off before cleaning up the mess that she'd made. She tossed the fractured bits of ceramic into the trash before slipping out the door.

"Sorry." She said, her voice completely void of emotion. "I have to go. I'm expected in Medbay."

"I'm sure they'd understand." Angeal said. "Sit down, take a minute to collect yourself."

Aradia shook her head. "You don't understand." She told him and left.

She made her way down to the medical wing only to see Genesis sitting up in his bed, reading, as usual. She didn't have the strength to deal with him. She didn't have the strength to fight. It was quite probable that she would take the private room today. She didn't know if she had the strength to fight her body's natural reactions.

Hollander took one look at her and nodded when she looked away. "Right this way, Aradia. We'll get you set up."

Aradia nodded, not even looking at Genesis. She didn't want him to know she'd broken down so horribly. It was bad enough that Angeal and Zack had seen it. She needed privacy.

She lay back on the bed that Hollander had directed her too and took a deep breath to relax herself.

"You flashed back, I hear." Hollander said with a smug smile. "What triggered it, I wonder."

"None of your fucking business." Aradia snarled at him. "Just give me the injection and get on with your business."

Hollander was taken slightly aback by her outburst but nodded. "You'll be going to Wutai soon." He told her. "If you're there longer than three weeks, I'll be dropped in to give you your injection. The other option is for you to administer it yourself."

"I'd rather do it myself." Aradia told him. "Less of a risk to the valuable assets of ShinRa."

Hollander glared at her and stuck the needle in her arm, causing her to hiss. "Be that as it may, those are the only options Lazard would allow."

"Fantastic." Aradia snapped as the needle was removed just as quickly. "As I said, I'd rather do it myself. That way, at least, I don't have to worry about the chopper getting shot down before you get to me. And if I choose to die, then so be it. No one will be able to stop me."

Hollander glared at her and turned to walk away. "Perhaps I should discuss with Lazard the possibility of Genesis giving you the injection instead. President Shinra would be most displeased if something happened to his second favorite operative."

Aradia moved to lunge at him but froze as the nausea and weakness suddenly overtook her. She fell back on the bed with a whimper and assumed her usual position.

* * *

Aradia sighed as she flopped down in her usual chair in the First's Common room. Angeal and Genesis were arguing about plants and bugs. It wasn't unusual for the two to be arguing about something, but Genesis seemed to pick the most mundane topics. Aradia shared a look with Sephiroth as they let the two duke it out.

"You'd better do something about those plants in your room." Genesis snapped.

Angeal gave an exasperated sigh. "Those plants represent nature. Some of us converse with nature to hone our spirit and honor."

Aradia rolled her eyes. Always the same.

"And some of us are getting bugs in our rooms because of those blasted things." Genesis snarled. "Not just in the rooms either, everywhere."

"Come on." Angeal said. "Don't you remember? We used to have bugs in our rooms all the time when we were kids."

"That's why I hate them!" Genesis roared. "And the past? It can stay there."

Sephiroth caught Aradia's attention and made a cutting motion with his hand, signaling to find a way to end the argument.

Aradia winked and picked up her copy of Loveless and started reading it again, letting Angeal and Genesis continue for a moment before adding her two sense. "Genesis …"

"What!" he snapped, rounding on her. "Don't tell me you agree with him. It would certainly mean that you had spent far too much time with him over the last month."

Aradia rolled her eyes. "I wasn't going to." She told him, not taking her eyes from her book. "I was going to tell you that there was a beetle on your shoulder." She managed to say it with a straight face, even though the other two males in the room were trying to hide smiles.

Genesis' regal features were quickly devoid of all color as he shrugged out of his coat and started to shake it out, even going as far as to remove his shoulder plates, to make sure that the supposed bug hadn't hidden.

Angeal and Sephiroth couldn't contain their laughter anymore as they watched Genesis throw his coat over the chair while rubbing his arms to ward off his obvious shudder.

Aradia smirked, still reading her book. "I was kidding, Genesis."

Genesis glared at her. "You little …" He cut off his own sentence and sat down. Angeal and Sephiroth continued to laugh.

* * *

Aradia looked down as her phone went off. She was standing with Zack waiting for something to eat. She groaned as she noticed who it was from. Genesis was calling her.

"Yeah?" She asked, flipping it open and waving off Zack's concerned look.

"Meet me in Lazard's office." Genesis told her. "It's time for the briefing. We'll be leaving tonight apparently."

"Fantastic. I take it to mean, get my ass up there now?" Aradia asked as she grabbed an apple from the tray.

"Yes." Genesis told her.

"Fine, fine." Aradia told him airily. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Make it five."

"Of course, master." Aradia sighed as Genesis hung up. She turned to Zack. "He's always such a bear before a mission. Looks like I gotta go. See you later."

"Bye." Zack called after her as he walked over to eat with a few of his friends.

Aradia made her way through the halls, dropping her apple core into a garbage can on her way down the hall. She met Genesis at the elevator with an eye roll.

"So what's the big emergency? Why are we leaving now?" Aradia asked.

"I don't know." Genesis told her as they stepped in. "Lazard just told me to meet him in the Briefing Room."

"Helpful." Aradia muttered. She leaned against the wall. "I take it we'll at least have time to pack. I do still have to meet with Hollander to get a couple of doses of Mako for the trip."

Genesis nodded. "Yes, that's why we're not leaving until tonight."

Aradia nodded.

They arrived at the Briefing Room and they were met with Hollander on their way in. He nodded to both of them before walking into the elevator. "Aradia, I'll see you when you're done here."

Aradia nodded. "Sure, no problem." She rolled her eyes. "He irritates me."

"He irritates everyone. He's bitter because he was usurped by Hojo for the Head of the Science department." Genesis told her as they stepped into the Briefing room.

"Genesis, Aradia, good to see you." Lazard said as he turned to look at them. They both took seats on the right of the V shaped set of terminals.

"Director Lazard." Genesis greeted. "What are we going in for?"

"At the moment, it's simply a fact finding mission." Lazard told them. "This war has been going on for far too long and we need to get it over with. We need to know what they're planning and what they're hiding."

Genesis nodded. "So it's in, grab the information, and out."

Lazard shook his head. "Not quite. If you find anything of true detriment to ShinRa, then you've been ordered to destroy it immediately. That's why Aradia is being sent with several doses of her Injection. We don't know how long it's going to take you. Wutai in and of itself might not be very big, but the entire Wutai area is being utilized. We need to know who and what we're dealing with."

Genesis nodded. "Alright. We're leaving tonight, then?"

Lazard nodded. "Yes. I'm going to send you and Aradia in with a small battalion of 2nds and 3rds. They'll be under your command, Genesis. Use them as you see fit."

Genesis smirked. "Oh, I will."

Aradia didn't like the tone in his voice. There was something different about it. Lazard, however, didn't notice, the man was completely oblivious to everything but what was on his computer.

Genesis rose after discussing a few more details of the mission with Lazard, motioning for Aradia to follow. She was out of her chair so fast that you'd think she'd been electrocuted.

"One moment, Genesis. I'd like to have a private word with her." Lazard said.

Genesis glared at the back of the blond man's head. "Fine, I'll be waiting outside."

Aradia nodded, watching her mentor leave. "Yes, Director?"

"Are you going to be alright giving yourself injections. I know that, according to Hollander, you have four hours where you're completely incapacitated." Lazard said.

"I'll be fine." Aradia told him. "It's not the first time I'll have had to do them myself, Director." She clenched her fists, resisting the urge to reach for the triggers of her arm blades and decapitate the man where he sat. Just the sound of his voice irritated her. He sounded like her Restrictor. She mentally shook that thought out of her head as she was dismissed. She saluted him and walked out of the room quickly, physically shaking her head.

"Aradia?" Genesis asked. "Are you alright? You've been acting strange for a couple of days." They both approached their consoles and pulled whatever it was that the company had given them this time as well as the Materia they would need for the upcoming mission.

"I'll be fine, as soon as I get out of this place and away from the reminders." Aradia told him. "I told you, DG was hell. There's too much that reminds me of it."

"Is that what happened the other day in the training room with Angeal and Zack?" Genesis asked as they boarded the elevator.

Aradia nodded. "I couldn't take it. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you when I came in but I was just … I'm sorry."

Genesis didn't push her to talk. He would have plenty of time in Wutai to get her to open up to him.

* * *

Aradia stood slightly behind Genesis, waiting for him to finish with the residual orders he was required to give and receive. They had already said goodbye to Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack. As soon as Genesis was done with the last minute check, they would go.

She checked her pack again, making sure that three syringes were still firmly in place. She had three weeks before she had to inject herself. She had her phone set with an alarm. She and Genesis would have to talk about procedure on the way there. It would be a long flight, and the others would have to get over it.

Genesis turned to her and they both jumped into the back of the chopper. With the roar of the blades they were off.

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** And that's that. Have fun and drop us a review. Hattress loves reviews, and wish her a happy bday. She's turning the big 21.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

We don't suffer from Insanity, we enjoy every nanosecond of it.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: Hattress:** Hey, all its Sunday again! For those of you who care, my party went well yesterday (a few days later then my b-day), I didn't drink too much. Lemme tell you though, I'm never touching Whiskey again. That crap is nasty. We spent most of the time just watching TV or chatting. On another note, Hare and myself have noticed that our amount of reviewers have fallen and that's not too good. So those of you who are lurking, feel free to post a review and tell us what you think. Even you not signed up and drop an anonymous review. It never hurts.

**Hare:** *Snorts* Yeah, party. Sure. Nothing like a bunch of friends sitting around doing next to nothing. It was pretty cool though. Sorry for getting this up so late. While neither of us drank a whole hell of a lot, but some things came up and we only JUST remembered that we hadn't posted it.

**D/c:** Hare: I own nothing. Aradia belongs to Hattress. Squeenix …. *ahem* Square Enix owns everything else.

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Aradia sighed as they came over the Wutai continent. It was a full day's flight to the Wutai continent. Genesis had been completely relaxed the entire trip. Aradia was nervous. This was her first assignment outside of Midgar.

"Aradia, we need to discuss something." Genesis finally said.

"And what would that be?" Aradia asked.

"Your injections." Genesis told her. "It gives us four hours were we have to be on constant alert because you'll be down."

Aradia nodded. "I was wondering that myself, actually. I don't need the other SOLDIERs knowing what's going on with me. There's too many people that know already, so I'm going to have to find somewhere private that can still be easily guarded."

Genesis nodded. "The thing is, that you're priority personnel. Lazard stressed this quite a bit while I was talking to him on the platform. President Shinra will be extremely upset if something happens to you."

Aradia groaned. "This isn't fair." She sighed. "They don't get it. Hell, even President Shinra doesn't have all of the information."

Genesis knew that she was referring to Deep Ground. She didn't talk about it openly, especially in front of others. "So what are we going to do?"

Aradia sighed. "I've got three weeks." She told him. "And I have no fucking clue."

Genesis ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. She needed to be kept secure. She was not only a valuable asset to the company, but he considered her a friend, and he didn't want to lose her because they weren't being careful. "I think what we'll do is we'll set up camp in the most secure area we can find at the time and set up a perimeter."

Aradia nodded. "I just hope that this trip doesn't last that long."

Genesis nodded as the pilot gave the signal for decent. It was time to start the mission.

* * *

Aradia stepped off of the chopper and looked around as Genesis dropped down next to her. They were surrounded by trees. They were drowning in a sea of green Aradia noticed Genesis shudder. She looked at him with a smirk. "What's the matter, Genesis, scared of the big bad bugs?"

"Watch it, Aradia." Genesis snarled at her as he stepped away from the chopper to meet with the other members of their unit.

She smirked and followed him over. This was going to be amusing.

Genesis looked around him before pulling out his phone. "Alright, we've been dropped quite a way from Wutai and the Fort. We're actually on the southern tip of the continent as it was the only safe place for a drop. Our current objective is to find anything that we can that will be of any use in defeating Wutai in this war. Once I make the call to Lazard with the report, we'll be given further instruction." He looked over at Aradia. "For now, we make our way to Wutai and Fort Tamblin."

Aradia nodded and took charge. She was ranked only just below Genesis, as an apprentice First. She was still a second, but on a different level. "Alright, lets distribute the equipment and get a move on. We've still got quite a bit of daylight left and we want to make some decent headway so that we can find somewhere secure to make camp for the night."

The Seconds and Thirds that had been sent with them snapped into action. Aradia turned to Genesis, who nodded his approval.

"Well done." Genesis said, smirking at her. "Lets go. we've got quite a way to walk. Before we can even consider getting into Wutai, we need to get up Da Chao."

Aradia nodded. "I know. I did my homework. We've got about a six hour walk ahead of us before we make it to a decent point for camp, and about five hours of daylight left. We need to be extremely careful if we're going to travel after dark because of the potential for an ambush." She looked around at the SOLDIERs around her. "And we'll need to rest up before we get to Fort Tamblin. Once we reach them its no holds bared."

Genesis nodded and turned to see the others were ready to go. "Alright, lets move out. We've got a lot of ground to cover in only a little time."

The men saluted and they started out.

Aradia watched Genesis as he led the way through the brush, keeping a careful eye on the GPS he had in his phone. She pushed a branch out of her way as they made their way from the beach and into the forests that lay between the cliffs around them. He was different. There was something that was troubling him, and it had been since he'd gotten out of the hospital. He had a new contempt for everything. He was also pulling away from her. She knew that Angeal and Sephiroth were feeling the same way. They had talked about it briefly before their departure from Midgar. Angeal, in particular, was worried that something was extremely wrong with Genesis and implored her to use this time to find out what it was.

She kept pace with him easily as they made their way through the trees. It seemed to have rained recently. Everything was wet. Aradia glared into the trees as she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. "Genesis, something's coming." She murmured, locking her fingers into the triggers of her arm blades.

"Are you sure?" Genesis asked.

She nodded. "I can sense it." She looked into the trees more closely now, searching for any signs of movement. Genesis motioned for the others to stop and drew his Rapier. "Not even here for twenty minutes." She muttered irritably as she took her fighting stance.

In that moment they heard several fierce growls as they saw the shapes coming at them.

"FIENDS!" Genesis yelled, moving into the fray as the monsters jumped at them.

Aradia barely had time to register the massive white and red beast coming at her as she fisted her hands and thrust her blades into the beast's stomach. She jerked up, slicing it's torso open before tossing it aside and moving on to the next one. She looked around for a split second to check on the rest of the team before slicing apart the next beast coming at her. Blood flew everywhere as she tore each monster apart. This was what she was created for; the very reason for her alterations. She was stronger and faster than the average SOLDIER operative.

She moved with a grace that the others could only envy as she danced between the monsters coming out her. She was not only dodging attacks, but delivering her own. Fiend after fiend fell at her hands, leaving the other operatives to only have to take down the one or two that came their individual ways. Aradia heard the cries of pain as fiends were torn apart and men were cut and wounded.

When the herd was done, she fell into a defensive stance, listening for more. Their handlers had to be around somewhere. She'd lost track of Genesis in the confusion, and two of the men sent with them had fallen, wounded. She looked around quickly as Genesis moved back into the clearing. He looked her over and anger flashed in his eyes. He walked over and wiped something from her face.

He pulled his hand away to reveal the blood. "Who's blood?"

"It's theirs." Aradia told him quickly, wiping more from her face. "Where'd you go?"

"I led some of them away." Genesis told her. "It's easier of I don't have to worry about hitting someone I'm not supposed to in sight a tight space. It makes me envy your arm blades, in this scenario." He looked over at the others. "What's the tally?"

"Two wounded." Aradia assured, looking over her arms for any sign of injury. "Nothing that can't be wrapped up, I'm sure. These particular fiends aren't exactly complex. Attack with the tail, teeth, or claws."

Genesis nodded. "Alright." He moved down the line looking over the wounded who were being tended. They were fine, all wounds were minor. Aradia sighed as she cleaned her blades off. She hated messy fights.

Genesis walked back over. "We're going to need to move quickly, now. We're losing time with them being tended and having to actually fight."

"We're losing about an hour." Aradia mused, checking her phone. "It'll take thirty minutes for the numbing agent in the bandages to take effect, and we've already lost that long in fighting and tending."

Genesis growled and pulled up his GPS. "We have to find somewhere. I don't want to be moving around with two wounded after dark for very long." Aradia nodded and checked the topography of the area. "The problem is going to be in finding an area that's not only escapable if need be, but also easily defendable. We're no small group, but there's still only so much that we can handle."

Genesis sighed. "There's a cove, little over four hours away. We'll check it out when we get there and go from there."

Aradia nodded as they continued going over the topography and options. Once the men were up and moving again, they continued on. Aradia was on constant alert. She knew that she would get very little sleep while she was in enemy territory. She was far too focused. Luckily for her, the horrors she had faced in Deep Ground had made her able to function on only a few hours of sleep a night.

* * *

They made it to the cove at nightfall. They with two men virtually useless and most of the unit nearly falling over from exhaustion, they were forced to make camp. Aradia looked around as they settled in and the men started pitching their tents and the like. She made her way over to the entrance of the cove and climbed up over the ridge, taking in the surrounding area. Since her senses were better, she could see further and better than the men around her. Her night vision was better than even Genesis' was.

She could see fires in the distance, or at least the glows from them. Wutai troops. She took out her phone and marked the spots on her maps before sending it to Genesis. The men already had orders to keep their fires small, or if they could get away with it, not having one at all. The fact that the area they were in was mostly grass with some trees for cover helped. She only hoped that it didn't rain.

Genesis appeared next to her and took in their surroundings as well. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping watch." Aradia told him. "Go get some rest, you're still healing."

Genesis snorted and leaned against the rocks next to him. "I'm fine." He told her. "I'm more interested in a certain conversation that we're going to be having." He smirked at her. "We're alone up her, Dia. None of the others can hear us."

Aradia sighed as she kept her eyes trained on the terrain around them. She knew that no one could see her, and Genesis had stripped off his red coat, leaving him in the all black uniform of a First Class SOLDIER. "You have to understand, Genesis, what I'm going to tell you can NEVER be repeated. I was sworn to secrecy. If President Shinra ever found out that I told you, I would be killed, as well as you, and my entire family back in Rocket Town."

"Your family?" Genesis asked.

"I haven't seen them since I was thirteen years old." Aradia said with a sad smile. "Eight years, nearly nine, now." She looked over at him. "Deep Ground was started originally as a medical unit for the ShinRa troops. With the birth of Project G and the Jenova Project, that all changed. The goal became to create 'super soldiers'. It was with the subsequent failure of Project G that the Tsvets were born. Project G's Genes were spliced and used to create a superior race of soldiers that are supposed to surpass even the Firsts." She sighed as she looked at the sky. "When I was taken in, there were already three of them, all born and raised in Deep Ground. I became the fourth, but I turned out differently than the others did."

The faces of her companions flashed before her eyes. Weiss' collected smirk, Nero's adoring eyes as he gazed at his brother, and Rosso's twisted smirk were prominent. "The others were completely dependant on Mako. They had to have Mako baths every day in order to survive. They slept in cells like the ones that Hollander and the Med Bay use for long term healing. When I woke up down there, I was in one as well. The experiments on me had already started. I slept in one as well, for weeks until they realized that I was different. One night I had fought and fought to not have to go into my cell. I'm claustrophobic because of that place. I don't do well in small spaces and I don't like being completely enclosed."

She shook her head and looked over at Genesis as a cool breeze whipped around them. "I hid from them. It took two days to find me. When they didn't find me dead, they were stunned. After that, they waited until I started to show signs of degrading before they put me back into the Mako cell. One month. That was how long it took. The tests started when I came out. They wanted to know what it was in my Genome that had stopped the degradation that long. I had never seen the Restrictors so excited. They may have found an answer to the problem they were having with the others. Then they decided to find out how long I had before I died. The best estimate is forty-eight hours. It took me two weeks to recover from going that long without. They didn't want to risk it again." She shook her head again. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this." She sighed.

Genesis was staring at her. She held his complete attention, not only because she was telling him this story, but because she had mentioned Project G. She had details about it that even Hollander hadn't shared. "Go on. I'm not going to tell anyone."

Aradia chuckled. "I know. You're to honorable for that." She heaved a breath and sat down before she continued her story. "The Restrictors weren't happy when they found that whatever it was in my genetics that held me together that long wouldn't copy. They tried on every person they brought in. There was another girl brought in while I was there. She turned out like the others. She needed the Mako every day. Some of them argued that they should find another member of my family, a sibling or something, to see if it would happen again or if it was a fluke, but that was where I drew the line. I point blank told them that if they tried it, if I saw one family member come into that place, I would kill myself, and my family member, whoever it was, and they would lose their precious project."

"They could have just kept going back of other members." Genesis pointed out.

Aradia smirked at him and tilted her head back and to the side to stare at him as she rested back on her hands. "I'm an only child. My genetic combination is unique. Unless my parents had more kids after I vanished, which I doubt given that my mother had complications with me, they wouldn't have found another person that this happened with."

Genesis nodded. "I see. So how did you get out?"

"When my genes wouldn't copy into the new girl, I was deemed a failed project. That was just a few months ago, actually. It hurt, that they could discard me that quickly and easily. The Restrictors, they're not human; at least, not in the sense that they feel emotions. Humans are just cattle for experimentation to them. People don't exist. Only subjects." Aradia sighed. "When I was deemed a failed experiment, President Shinra stepped in. He had been funding that Hell for years. Only those inside know that, however. He wanted me, my skills, on the SOLDIER roster. He ordered my restrictor chip removed and my release. I was dumped off in the middle of nowhere to be picked up and taken to the Manor by the Turks."

"Restrictor Chip?" Genesis asked.

"It was how they controlled us so that we didn't turn and attack." Aradia laughed hollowly at the thought. "Several of the others were … violent, to say the least. Given half a chance, they would turn on the Restrictors in a heartbeat. Before I left, the other three, the more powerful three, were locked away."

"You wont say names." Genesis pointed out.

Aradia nodded. "I know that. The Tsvets, the Colored Tsvets, they're not people you ever want to run into. Knowing names, it'll only get you in more trouble."

Genesis nodded. "I'm glad you told me, Aradia. I can't imagine what you went through in there."

Aradia shook her head. "No, I don't think you could, but having someone that knows, that I don't have to hide it around, it helps. I know that I'll never completely be over what happened down there. There's no way, not after it formed such a basic part of me."

"Will you ever go see your parents again?" Genesis asked. "If you get a chance?"

"No." Aradia told him. "As far as they're concerned, I'm dead. If I went back there, I would never fit in again. They couldn't possibly understand what I've been through and the mess that my head is." She looked up at him with a faint smile. "It's better if they never see me again. They've moved on by now."

Neither of them said another word as Aradia cast her eyes towards the stars. It gave her an insignificant feeling to be blanketed with them, while at the same time she felt comforted. She liked being out in the open. It made the hells she'd experienced seem like a dream. She'd been treated like another lamb to the slaughter. Only Weiss and Nero had treated her like a person. Shelke, little Shelke. She held that small hope that her sister would be coming for her. Could she really believe that she would get out of there after making the rank of Color? Weiss would take care of her.

Genesis watched Aradia as she watched the sky. This girl knew about Project G. She suffered from the same thing he did, though on a different level. She would degrade rapidly if she missed her injection, but before that time, it held off. It was from one extreme to another in a matter of hours. Genesis' own was a slow, torturous process. He had to find a way to fix it. For both of them. He cast his eyes skyward. The Goddess. She had to help them. She hadn't made them this way. They had been altered by the will of man, not the Goddess.

Genesis sighed and sat down against the rocks, pulling Aradia against him between his legs without a second thought. They shared a pain, and he needed her close. When he left ShinRa, he would take her with him. Hollander would cure him and take care of her.

Aradia simply leaned into Genesis' embrace as he leaned against the rocks and they kept watch. She didn't think anything of it as his arm secured around his waist. He had been growing distant from her, he'd become completely obsessed with Hollander as well. She got the sense that, in that moment, some of that gap had closed, though there was still a lot of missing information on both sides. There was a new camaraderie between them.

* * *

Aradia sighed as they made their way through yet more trees. It seemed that if they weren't traversing the rocks, cliffs, and mountains, they were walking through trees. She officially hated the Wutai continent.

There were several things coming close. First was that they were finally nearing Fort Tamblin. This was where the fun part of the mission really started. Sneak in, get the information, sneak out, call Lazard for further instructions. Aradia looked at the men around her with a sigh. None of them had any manner of stealth about them. It would have to be her and Genesis that went in while they provided the cover fire.

Genesis led into a copse of trees that overlooked the Fort, concealed by a ruined bit of wall.

"Alright, boys, here's the plan." Genesis told them. "I want you all to run perimeter. We want to keep this quiet so that Aradia and I don't get noticed. We're the ones going in. You're going to run around the edges to find anything you can from their forces."

The men nodded and started to spread out and hide the equipment they'd brought with them. Genesis turned to Aradia. "Are you ready for this."

Aradia took a deep breath and nodded, sending a silent prayer to the Goddess to help them. "I'm fine. I did plenty of stealth training with Angeal while you were in the hospital."

"I know you did." Genesis told her with a small smile. "Even with The Puppy by your side, you passed most of your missions. This should go quick. We're only on a fact finding mission. It's in and out."

Aradia nodded. "Right." She took another steadying breath. She could do this. Between Deep Ground training and SOLDIER training, she was more than prepared.

Genesis brushed a finger over her cheek before turning towards the Fort. They were moving in the next second, moving in.

Genesis led her to the top of the Fort wall and they stopped.

"We don't need to go any further." Genesis murmured to her in an undertone.

The smell alone was enough to make Aradia gag. "What the hell are those things?" She hissed.

"Fiends." Genesis told her. "Big ones. Those are being used and trained specifically as Anti ShinRa units." He didn't rise out of his crouch but moved along the wall with a catlike grace. He motioned her after him and she followed. "We need to get more information before we call Lazard. This can't be all their planning."

Aradia nodded, trying to ignore the pure stench that was rising from those monsters. They were huge, and of varying colors. Their muscles alone seemed to stretch their skin beyond anything that could have been healthy. They looked like massive boulders that had been stuck together. Mountain Trolls. That was the only word for them. Massive, repulsive monsters.

Genesis led her deeper into the monstrous, stone mason worked, structure. It was a maze. Patrols focused on the ground. They didn't think that perhaps someone would be running the tops of the walls. Genesis led the way into the heart of it, the very center courtyard, where the generals were planning. They couldn't have timed their arrival any more perfect. Aradia smirked at Genesis and pulled out her phone, that she had long set to silent, and started recording. Genesis nodded too her and motioned for her to stay.

Aradia rolled her eyes and nodded, motioning for him to continue. Genesis nodded to her and made his way further over the fort walls, looking for anything else of significance.

Aradia watched as the men before her talked. There was mention of an Elite Crescent Unit that was currently in the middle of training, and details on the training exercises with the monstrosities outside. Aradia stopped the recording when the men dismissed the meeting and started to disperse. There was still no sign of Genesis. She hid next to a Stone Obelisk that was situated on one of the arches and wall cross sections. She looked around.

Genesis, where the hell are you, she thought to herself. She didn't dare speak out loud, lest she be heard. She checked the areas surrounding the outer walls and saw that the SOLDIERS that they had brought with them were being less than obvious about their movements. No one had noticed them, though, so it might have just been her that was able to see them.

Genesis reappeared and nodded to her, before they made their way out. Once they reached the outer sections of the Fort they dropped to the ground and made their way out at a quick walk.

"Did you get anything useful?" Genesis asked as they stepped out of the fort and into the trees.

"I sure as hell did." Aradia said, smirking in excitement. "They've also got an elite unit of fighters that are supposedly on par with the Firsts of ShinRa."

Genesis smirked. "That explains the training exercises I found."

Aradia nodded. "They call it the Crescent Unit."

Genesis nodded and pulled out his phone. He called Lazard right away as the others made their way into the clearing.

Aradia started checking in with the others, who found out next to nothing other than a few attack dates, while Genesis made his report to Lazard.

That's when it hit. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through Aradia's abdomen causing her to gasp. More followed, feeling as if they were tearing her apart as Aradia tried to focus enough to check the date on her phone. She was late. She should have had her Injection yesterday.

"Genesis …" Aradia gasped.

Genesis looked over at her, shock written over his face. "How did you forget?" He asked as he raced to her side.

"We were … moving through … ah! Enemy territory." Aradia rasped out as the pains became more frequent. "Genesis, we have to go now!"

Genesis picked her up with one arm under her shoulders and one under her knees as he motioned for the others to follow. "Don't forget her pack." He snarled.

The men nodded and one followed along at his pace, carrying the pack of syringes.

Genesis made it to the copse of trees that Aradia had pointed out to him on their way through. This was where she'd wanted to be. It was far enough from the fort that they wouldn't be detected, but close enough that they could do what they needed to get done while she was down.

He lay her down on a bed of ferns as the others got there. He took the pack from one of the soldiers near him and started barking orders. "I wan the parimeter set up now. No questions asked. If we don't do this now, Aradia dies."

The men jumped into action. They'd all come to respect and admire the girl that could go toe to toe with their leader and not be phased.

Genesis gave her the injection quickly as Aradia twitched with every flash of pain. "Aradia, come on. Talk to me. Wake up. I need you to come with me, Aradia. I need your help."

Aradia whimpered. "With what, you big baby?"

"I'm not staying with ShinRa, Aradia. I'm leaving. I need you to come with me." Genesis told her. "All of the men here were hand picked by me because I knew that they were loyal and would follow me. I need you by my side, Dia."

Aradia looked at him. "Away from ShinRa, eh?" She asked as the flashes of pain became less. "And how am I supposed to get my injections, Genesis? You see what happens."

"Hollander." Genesis told her. "We're joining Hollander. He's on a mission, and he promised to help me with what's wrong with me if I help him get his revenge."

Aradia arched slightly with one of the spike of pain. "Why?" She managed.

"Because there's something wrong with me." Genesis told her. "I'll explain everything later, as long as you make it through this."

Aradia laughed, though the action hurt. The pain searing through her was becoming less and less frequent, though just as strong. "Relax, Genesis. I got the Mako into me, now its just a matter of time before it works itself into my system. The nausea is already kicking in. Now we've got four hours before I can function."

They heard an explosion from the direction of the fort. Genesis scowled as he looked down at her. "I don't think we have that long."

* * *

**A/n: Hare: ***stares at Hattress for a moment* and she's gone. She's decided playing the game is more important. Alright folks, here's the deal, we like seeing reviews, we like knowing how we're doing. So 3 reviews, or I get to sit on my ass this week. Your choice. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I worked my ass off on it.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

Insanity is our only means of relaxation.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n: Hare:** Hattress isn't here tonight. She had … things to do. So I'm going to be taking over for this chapter. We actually got four reviews for the last chapter. I'm so excited. And thus, we get to the moment you've all been waiting with baited breath for, I'm sure. I know I have. Sad part is that I took forever for me to figure out how to word it right. Anyway, without further ado, I give you THE DESSERTION CHAPTER!

**D/c: Hare:** Jeeze … Every time I have to post… *grumbles to self*. Anything you recognize from FFVII belongs to Square Enix, of course, and the lovely and volatile Aradia belongs to my caring master, Hattress. I just weave the tale.

Chapter 7

* * *

Aradia sat bolt upright, ignoring the nausea and dizziness that made it's way into her. "Damn." She hissed.

Genesis wrapped his arms around her to steady her and looked up at the man running into the clearing. "Sir, it's the Crescent Unit. They're attacking. They caught some of the men looking around the outside of the fort.

"Damn." Genesis, parroting Aradia. He looked down at her. "Can you move?"

Aradia nodded, clutching her head. "Yeah, I can move. I can fight."

"Not in your condition." Genesis snapped. He looked over at the Second that was standing before them. "Take her up into the mountains. I'm going to help the others."

"Sir?" The man asked.

"Look, dumbass, I'm completely useless for the next four hours." Aradia snarled at him. "I'm only going to be a liability. Now take the opportunity to save your own ass as well and help me. Genesis, either you come out of this alive, or I'm going to kill you."

Genesis shot her a skeptic look before running off. Aradia took hold of the shoulder of the Second that she had been left with as he helped her to her feet and deeper into the trees and towards the mountain.

"This is bullshit." Aradia murmured. "Stop for a minute." She hissed. The Soldier stepped sideways and helped her to lean against a tree. She wrapped her arm around her stomach and started panting, fighting back the wave of nausea that overtook her senses.

"Why are you like this?" He asked.

"None of your fucking business." Aradia told him.

"I'm just trying to help." The boy said.

"Don't." Aradia told him. "Your orders are to get me away from the Crescent Unit."

The boy nodded with a frown. Aradia ignored his concern as she closed her eyes and tried to distinguish the sounds of battle in the distance. She could hear the fire from the Wutai troops as well as the ringing of swords as the SOLDIER members entered battle.

"What are you -"

"Shut up." Aradia hissed. She heard a twig snap to her right and locked her fingers into the triggers on her arm blades. This was going to end badly if she had to fight. "Draw your sword." She hissed at the boy with her.

He nodded and did as he was told, looking around and taking a defensive stance, his weapon held aloft in front of him.

Aradia opened her eyes as she heard heavy footfalls coming from the north. She looked around the tree she was leaning on and swore. Wutai troops were on their way. She glanced back at the Second. He looked nervous. Fiends were one thing. He would have to take a life or be killed himself. She knew how hard this would be to someone as green in true battle as he obviously was. What was Genesis thinking, bringing kids and new recruits or recently reranked members of the Company into this hell?

As the Wutai soldiers passed her tree, she moved. Her grace had lessened with her nausea and dizziness, but she took out both of them and managed to stay upright, albeit bent over and precariously balanced. Both men fell on the ground, dead. Her arm blades were covered in blood again and she faced the boy. "You'd better be ready to kill." She told him. "Because I can't keep this up for long."

He nodded and gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. He was completely green.

Aradia heard more soldiers coming their way and was moving again. The men came at her first, but were quickly dispatched. The boy moved forward and thrust just under Aradia's arm, stabbing a man coming up behind her in the stomach. Aradia's eyes landed on the kid with sympathy. He shouldn't be here. His eyes were wide and fearful, despite his calm mask.

Aradia nodded to him and as the next round of troops came the two moved, taking them out.

With the stabbing motion of a lance and a sharp spear of pain indicating that her skin was torn open, Aradia cried out. She'd been stabbed in the side. The man drew back to run her through again and end her life, but the boy decapitated him before he could move into the beginnings of the down stroke.

Aradia clutched her side as she stood. "This isn't good." She murmured. Mako was still making its way through her system, so the bleeding was slow, but once that was over it would bleed more freely, and would give way to blood loss. Oh, she was so going to end up in a Cell for this. She hated Mako Chambers.

The kid looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"No, but get ready, because we have another round coming." Aradia told him, bracing herself against a tree with one arm as she fought the dizziness that threatened to put her on the ground with a moan. "You're going to have to take them, kid. I can't."

The boy nodded and stepped in front of her, taking a defensive position. He reminded her of Zack. Eager to prove himself, though he had no clue what he was really getting into.

They kept coming, and this time there were fiends with them. Aradia forced the pain to the back of her mind with everything else and fell into her training again as she started towards them. She moved with infinite grace won in the long years of Deep Ground. Weiss had taught her well. She slashed them apart, one by one, relishing the feel of them coming apart under her blades and the sound of the blood trickling and spraying from their wounds, as Rosso had described. Loving the sight of the light leaving their eyes as they returned to the life stream, as Nero had lovingly told her.

Blood coated her clothes and the ground around her, as well as her skin. The air was thick with the scent of blood and the only sound was the ragged breathing of the Second Class Soldier with her. She took a deep breath and everything came back at once. She was on her knees as she noticed several more wounds, one of which was nearly fatal. She would definitely end up in a chamber for this. With the way her body was, she was done for.

She could hear more footsteps coming and could hear the sing of a blade that was very familiar. Genesis was coming.

"Aradia!" he yelled as he made his way over to her. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"No." Aradia told him, pulling her hand away from the wound on her side to show him, as well as the others that covered her. "If I don't get back to Midgar before I run out of Mako injections to slow the progression of these wounds, I'm screwed, Genesis. I'll die of blood loss."

He nodded and picked her up. The others were coming up behind him. He turned to them. "Go to the spot I told you about." Genesis told them. "Now. I'll meet you there."

The men nodded, even the kid, and took off into the trees, away from the conflict, and away from Genesis and Aradia.

"I wish you could come with me." Genesis told her as he began to carry her through the woods. "I need you by my side, Aradia. You're the only one that could ever understand."

Aradia winced as his steps jarred her. "Don't. You know as well as I do The ShinRa Manor is the only place with the facilities for me to recover."

Genesis nodded and they stepped into a clearing. There wasn't a blade of grass in the area. He lay her down and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Call the chopper that's standing by to come and get you. I have to go."

Aradia nodded and looked up at him as she stood on her feet, barely balanced. "I'll find a way back to you, Genesis. I can't stay with the Company. Not after what they've done to me. I'm tired of being their dog."

Genesis nodded. "When we meet again, Aradia." He said with a bow.

Aradia nodded and opened her phone as he disappeared into the trees.

"Reno, I need a lift." She said.

* * *

Her return to Midgar was met with a one stop trip into a Mako Chamber. It was like being back in deep ground, only this time, she was allowed clothes. She was dressed in a pair of tight, black, cotton shorts and a fitted tank top. She was locked into a bronze tube that quickly filled with Mako.

Aradia closed her eyes and sank into her mind, willing herself to fall asleep so that she wouldn't have to focus on the fact that she was right back where she started. In a Mako Chamber at the hands of ShinRa.

"Don't worry, Aradia." Carin said with a kind smile. "It'll be over before you know it."

Aradia glared at her as the outter guard on the cell was shut, locking her in darkness. In a way, it was worse than Deep Ground. They didn't want people to be able to see the Soldiers in Mako Chambers here because most had injuries to gruesome to truly survive, if not for their altered state.

Being submerged in darkness, with nothing but the flow of Mako around her, it gave her time to think. To remember. Things that she didn't need to be doing. Memories flashed through her mind. Of her life before she had become the monster that she is. Playing with friends, eating with her parents, strolling around the village after school, and even tending the garden with her mother. She was happy then. Life was simple.

Then the Lost Unit came. They claimed they were just passing through. That they were on their way to Wutai to help extract the wounded. Her mother holding her tight against her as they looked around, their eyes lusting for something.

The night they took her, they did horrible, unspeakable, things to break her. The mental torture they'd been told to use had been enough. She didn't fight. When she finally came back to her senses, she was in cell.

Just like this one.

The torturous horrors that she'd been forced to endure. The genetic therapy, the experiments, the fights. Forced to kill, to get a taste for the blood. She could sense the change in herself, as the others could. The beatings when she wouldn't comply or failed to do as she was told were the worst. They didn't just control you, the abused you. The only one you could trust was yourself.

She watched an endless stream of twisted experiments, though none were successful as she was. They wanted more like her. They wanted to clone her. The President of ShinRa wouldn't allow that.

Her mind fractured. The others kept away, and she broke further. She was never powerful enough to earn a title of Color, but she was a Tsviet none the less.

And then little Shelke came along. So scared, crying for her sister, fighting against the restrictors. Once they put her chip in, all bets were off. Shelke became a shell of the spunky girl that she had been, and she became their drone, useful only in her NetDiving ability. She was an adequate fighter, but nothing extraordinary like Rosso and Weiss.

"_You have to want it, Ara!" Weiss yelled, "You have to want to survive!"_

_Aradia glared at him as she clenched her fists, causing her arm blades to shoot past her fists. She was down to fighting weight in little more than a pair of pants, that the Restrictors provided, and a tank top. They had her fighting Weiss because he was the strongest and they wanted to know what her limits were. _

"_Who could ever want such a thing in this place." Aradia growled as she charged him, blades ready even against his twin katanas, Heaven and Earth. "But I won't lose. I refuse to lose."_

_Weiss smiled. "It's that kind of drive that will help you survive, Ara."_

_Aradia growled as he threw her back with the force of his swing. She flipped over and landed on her feet and hand, releasing the triggers on her arm blades so not to break the blade itself. Aradia was a beautiful eighteen. Despite the scars that she had rendered in her time in Deep Ground, she still had a flawless beauty about her that even Rosso could never manage. Over her right eye was a crescent shaped tattoo that the restrictors had given her as a mark of what she had accomplished. She was completely Unique among the Tsviets and, though she wasn't graced with the title of color, was on the same level as Weiss. _

"_Alright, Children." Came the voice of one of the Restrictors over the loud speaker. "Time for the real fun to begin. First blood."_

_Aradia growled and Weiss sneered at the speaker. They both hated that they weren't able to do anything against those that tormented them and used them for their own twisted pleasures._

"_NOW!" Another voice screamed. "Or you'll both be punished."_

"_I'm sorry, Ara." Weiss said, his face grim._

"_Not as sorry as I am." Aradia retorted as she lunged at him. Charged at him and made a swipe with her arm blade. He blocked easily with Heaven before issuing a return strike with Earth. Aradia blocked the attack before ducking and coming up under his arms in an effort to get at his chest. Before she could raise her arm to cut him, he brought his knee up and kicked her away. Aradia landed in a heap across the room, a growl issuing from the back of her throat. This bastard was going to lose if it was the last thing she did._

_Weiss gave her no time to recover before he was on her again, Heaven burried deep into her side._

Aradia gasped as she awoke in the darkness of her Mako Cell. Her side throbbed horribly at the memory of training with Weiss. Why did these memories assault her now?

She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm and check the now bleeding wound. Sure enough, though she hadn't realized it at the time, it was near the spot where Weiss had stabbed her. It was about four inches to the left and certainly more jagged. The crude weapons of the Wutai were nothing like the refined Katanas that Weiss wielded. A ripple of pain shot through her again as she felt a needle slide into her body. Goddess, those injections were unpleasant, though necessary. Everything was automatically set. The fist hint of blood and she received an injection to stem the bleeding. Mako did amazing things to the human body.

Aradia grunted as the needle receded and she was allowed to relax once more. She hated Mako Cells for a reason. She forced herself to relax and allowed her mind to wander.

"_Mama, Papa, look what I found!" A young Aradia squealed as she raced up to her family home. "Look, look, look!"_

"_What is it, Sweetie?" Her mother asked affectionately. Aradia held up a small, slimy, green frog. "Oh, dear, Aradia, darling, wouldn't you rather let it live free in the wild. He'll get sick of you try to keep him here."_

_Aradia frowned and looked down at the frog. "But if I let him go, then Faalen and Locus will kill him, Mama." She could feel the stinging in her eyes that indicated that the tears were coming. Her mother began to panic, not knowing what was wrong with her daughter._

_Her Papa came out of the house and leaned on the doorway. He was tall compared to her 7 year old frame. "Dia, why don't you and I take a walk to find that little guy somewhere to hide from mean old Faalen and Locus."_

_Aradia looked up in surprise. "Really, Papa? They won't find him?"_

_Her Papa shook his head an walked up beside her Mama. He kissed the side of Mama's head and turned to Aradia. "Come on, We'll let Mama finish dinner and then when we get back it'll be time to eat."_

_Aradia nodded happily, a huge smile on her toothy features. "Papa, can I ride on your back?" She asked as they started walking. "I wanna be tall like you."_

_Papa laughed and grabbed her around her sides before placing her on his broad shoulders. She clutched the frog in one hand and his hair in the other. She waved as they passed other people in the town and stuck her tongue out at Faalen and Locus as they passed. Both boys glared as their mothers ushered them along with swats on the rear. They were always in trouble. Even Cid told on them, and he was the most fun grown up around. _

_Papa carried her all the way to the pond and put Aradia on the ground. As soon as she let the frog go on the river bed, Aradia watched as it hopped away into the water with a cheerful sounding ribbet. Aradia giggled and ran back to her Papa, throwing her arms around his neck. He picked her up and tucked her into his arm. _

"_Do you think he'll be happy, Papa?" Aradia asked._

"_I'm certain he will be. He'll even find a wife and have lots of little babies." Papa said, smiling widely. _

"_Like you and Mama?" Aradia asked._

_Papa nodded. "Yep, but we're special, cause we only got to have one baby to shower with all our love. And that's you, Dia. You're our pride and joy and we love you so much."_

"_I love you, too, Papa." Aradia said, smiling at him and kissing his cheek._

Aradia woke with a tear slipping down her cheek. How long had it been since she dreamed about her time with her parents? How long since she'd felt the loss that came with knowing that she could never see them again? More tears came as she wrapped her arms around herself, careful to avoid any of her injuries. They were better now, nearly healed to the point that there was almost zero risk of tearing them open again. She would be allowed out soon. She knew it now. She needed to get out. Being in here again was bringing back memories that she didn't need to be remembering. Feelings that could get her killed.

Genesis. She needed to focus on getting back to Genesis. She couldn't leave him alone for long. There was no telling what he would do. His mind was fracturing, like hers did. Surviving had become her sole goal in life until she'd met him. She needed him just as much as he seemed to need her.

Aradia's hands flew up to cover her eyes as the cover on her cell lifted, baring her to the eyes of the people standing around her. Carin was there, as well as Angeal and Sephiroth. Aradia managed a weak smile and a random wave.

Carin smiled as she reached for the button that would drain the Mako. Aradia felt the substance drain away from her and the cell opened. She was weak, and she was cold. She moved to step out of the cell and fell, causing Angeal to catch her, as he was the closest.

"Aradia, are you alright?" He asked frantically.

Carin smiled as Aradia tried to form coherent speech. "She'll be fine, Angeal. She's a little weak from the Mako. We'll need to get her into a bed to warm up and deal with her injection."

"Didn't she get it while she was in Wutai?" Sephiroth asked.

Aradia nodded. "Don't worry, guys. I'll be fine."

Carin sighed and moved to help her. "Aradia's body is different than yours." She told them as she led Aradia to a bed not far from the cells. "She reacts to Mako differently."

Angeal and Sephiroth shared a look. "Aradia, we have to ask…" Angeal said.

"What happened to Genesis?" Sephiroth asked. Angeal shot him a dirty look which Sephiroth ignored.

"I don't know." Aradia told them. "I'll tell you everything I know when I'm not straining, guys, alright? I'll make sure you're there when I'm debriefed by Lazard."

Sephiroth and Angeal nodded. They both waved and moved to walk out. Carin came back with a syringe and a cart full of blankets. "Alright, Aradia, time for the fun part."

Aradia snorted as she rolled over on her side and curled into herself. "Whoever told you this was the fun part lied." Aradia told the other woman. "Just stab me so I can get this over with. I still have to give my report."

Carin nodded and did as requested. She wrapped several blankets around Aradia's form and lay a bucket on the floor. "I know you're not going to have the strength, Aradia, so into the bucket."

"Yeah, sure." Aradia murmured as the Mako took effect. Goddess, she wished she were with Genesis. At least it wasn't as bad when he was around.

* * *

Aradia sighed as she pulled her shirt over her head and tucked it into her pants, getting ready to go to her meeting. It wouldn't be a fun one. She was going to have to basically lie through her teeth for parts of it.

She strapped on her arm blades, noticing that they had been cleaned and polished, good as new. She smiled at the thought. She didn't know who did it, but she was grateful. Unlike Angeal, she didn't have the luxury of not fighting with her most cherished possession.

She turned away from her locker and saw Zack standing there. He was looking at her anxiously. "What is it, Zack?" She asked.

"What happened to you?" Zack asked anxiously. "You look like hell."

"Thanks." Aradia murmured. "We were attacked. I just came out of the med bay a few hours ago. Carin only released me because Lazard wants my report. After that she's got me confined to the manor until she deems fit."

"So no missions?" Zack asked. "That sucks."

I snorted. "Please. I'll be happy if I never have to see the outside of my room for a while." She shook her head. "I have to go. I have that meeting with Lazard, and Sephiroth and Angeal are sitting in."

Zack nodded. "I'm glad you made it back okay, Aradia. I'm sorry Genesis didn't come with you."

Aradia nodded, fighting the smirk that wanted to emerge from her lips. "Thanks, Zack."

She turned and made her way up to Lazard's office. Time to get the hellish part over with.

She stepped inside and all eyes were on her. "Sorry I'm late, I was waylaid by a certain Puppy." She said with a pointed look to Sephiroth and Angeal, who smirked at her. She turned to Lazard and took her spot across from his desk.

Lazard sized her up, noting the bandages visible along her shoulder from one of her wounds. "Start at the beginning."

Aradia did just that. From the first fight with the Fiends to what they'd found in Fort Tamblin. "They're using Fiends, trolls or something, as Anti Soldier Units. They also have an elite unit of fighters. The Crescent Unit." She told them.

Lazard nodded. "What happened before your extraction?"

Aradia shrugged. "We were ambushed. I got separated from Genesis. I had just taken my injection, which I should have had the day before. I was down, pretty much useless, but I managed to fend off a few of the soldiers coming at me. I had one of the Seconds with me. I don't know which one. We fought them off and I made my way to the extraction point. I don't even remember the trip home and I don't know what happened to the others. By the time I was done fighting, the injection had fully taken hold and I couldn't concentrate."

Lazard sighed. "So that makes Genesis MIA. He's either completely deserted ShinRa and taken a whole unit with him, or he's been captured."

"Impossible." Angeal snarled. "Genesis would never desert. It's been his dream to be a member of ShinRa since we were kids."

Aradia held her tongue. Did none of them notice that something had been off with Genesis since he was injured in the training room?

Lazard shook his head. "Genesis isn't the only one that's gone missing. Hollander disappeared as well, taking several important files with him, Including Aradia's."

All eyes were on her again. "When did this happen?" She asked, looking shocked. She had no idea that Hollander had left, though she knew that he was working with Genesis on something.

"Shortly after you and Genesis left." Sephiroth said. "I hope, for their sake, that the two aren't connected."

"For now," Lazard said, looking between the three of them, "We'll label him MIA. When more information turns up, we'll make a more educated decision." He turned to Aradia. "If you remember anything else, no matter how insignificant, report it to one of us immediately."

"Of course, Sir." Aradia said with a salute. As if she would tell him anything.

Lazard nodded. "If you keep this up, you'll make First in no time, Aradia." He told her. "The first female in history."

Aradia kept her mouth shut but nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

"You're dismissed." Lazard said. "Carin wants you on lockdown because of the extent of your injuries. I tend to agree with her. That means little training and less missions. I'm sorry, but we can't risk your health. In four weeks, you'll report back to med bay for your next injection. Is that clear?"

Aradia saluted. "Yes, Sir." She said. Lazard nodded and motioned for her to leave, which she did happily. Before she knew it, she was back in her room and able to relax for a moment. She hated this. She wanted to be with Genesis, but with her on lock down, leaving the manor would be impossible.

* * *

Aradia groaned as she heard a knock at her door. It had been a week since her release from the Mako Chamber. She'd spent most of her time recovering in the confines of her room. Rumors flew through those remaining in the Manor. They were calling Genesis' departure the Mass SOLDIER Desertion Incident. They were all convinced that he was truly leaving them. Aradia wanted to tell them just how right they were.

She opened the door to find Angeal waiting for her. She sighed and let him in, turning her back towards him as she led him into the kitchen. "What do you need, Angeal?"

"Information. You were the last ones inside Wutai, and I need to know exactly what they've got going on so that Zack and I can get in, disable it, and get out." Angeal told her.

"So you're the dope on a rope?" Aradia asked. "I should have known. Sephiroth has been busy with other things, has he?"

Angeal nodded. "Mostly trying to find Genesis. I don't want to believe the rumors, but the more I think about it, the more likely it is. Genesis has been acting strange ever since the training room incident. With Hollander's disappearance as well … I just don't know."

Aradia nodded. "I understand, Angeal. I don't want to believe it either." She was lying through her teeth, and she knew it, but she had to keep up pretenses until she could get to Genesis. "Have a seat, I'll tell you what I know. Where are they dropping you."

Giving away as little of her mission as possible, she told him exactly what he and Zack would need to know. Lazard already had all this information, but Aradia showed him everything that she and Genesis had recorded. Angeal was stunned that we'd gotten so much information in only a couple of days.

"Lazard wants you on this mission as well." Angeal said. "Carin put her foot down and flat told him no."

"Good." Aradia told him. "I'm not going back to Wutai if I can help it, Angeal." She pulled up her shirt to see where the stab wound was. She wasn't happy about it. It was one more mark on her body that she didn't want or need. "As you can see, it's not healed. Besides, I need to rest. The things that happened … I watched a kid lose himself in the kill, Angeal. I'm not going to watch the same thing happen to Zack."

Angeal shook his head. "You'd be amazed at how chipper he is about the whole thing, even knowing that he's going to have to take a life."

Aradia rested her hand on her forehead as her shirt replaced itself. "He doesn't understand!" She yelled before composing herself. She turned away from Angeal and sighed. "Take care of him, Angeal. He's too young to be like this."

Angeal looked her over. She wore casual clothes. She hadn't actually worn her uniform since their meeting with Lazard. He didn't blame her. He could only wonder what she had seen to make her the woman that she was. "I will. Don't worry."

Aradia nodded. "I'll see you around." She said, dismissing him. Angeal rose and nodded.

"Be careful, Aradia." He told her as he turned towards the door. "And get well. I hope to see you in our next mission."

Aradia smiled to herself as she heard the door click behind her. She shook her head and turned back to her room. Lately her thoughts had been plagued with memories of before Deep Ground and during. She knew that she needed to step away from them, but she couldn't seem to help it. They made her who she was, and to see Zack change from the boy that he is to the man that he would become, someone like Sephiroth or Genesis, it hurt her in ways no one could imagine. If he were to become like them, it would lead him down a path that would lead him straight to the doors of Deep Ground, and experimentation.

She heard a knock on her door before it opened and an exuberant Zack bounced through the door. "ARADIA!" He yelled, happily. "Angeal, he nominated me for First, can you believe it?" He asked, grinning as he looked around the room.

Aradia came out of her room with a bright smile. "That's great, Zack. One step closer to your dream." The same dream Genesis had. To become a hero.

Zack nodded. "It kinda sucks that you're not going to be coming on this mission, Aradia. It would be a lot of fun if the two of us were going. We haven't done anything together in months."

Aradia sighed and patted him on the head. "Zack, it's only been a month and a week. Besides, even if I wanted to go on this mission, I couldn't I'm still injured."

Zack frowned. "Oh, right. I forgot about that." He rested his hand on his head and sighed. "But you wanted to go, right?"

Aradia snorted. "Not even close. I could go the rest of my life without stepping foot in Wutai again." She looked him in the eyes, seeing the innocence that still lurked in the depth of those Mako intense blue eyes. "Zack, I know you have to leave soon, so I'm going to make this quick. Be careful." She looked away. "The things they have there, you couldn't imagine. I could never do them justice. Be extremely careful."

Zack nodded. "Alright. I promise. I have to go, but I'll come back soon, I promise. This war will be over before you know it."

He left the room and Aradia collapsed on her couch. For all his experience, both in battle and with women, he knew absolutely nothing.

* * *

A/n: See, there. Genesis is gone, Aradia has returned to Midgar, and things are about to get interesting. It's all in good fun. I hope to hear from you all. Believe it or not, the next chapter is already in the works, so I hope you have something to say to me … well, us, anyway. I'm looking for 5 reviews this time, Loving Readers. We managed 4, so 5 shouldn't be too hard, is it? You've got a week.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

If you met me on the street, would you run in fear, show me pity, or enjoy my musings? Because insanity isn't a bane, it's actually quite fun.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n: Hattress:** All I can say, wow. Seriously wow. I totally wasn't expecting that many reviews for the last chapter. That was just freaking mind-blowing. Okay, I know now that ya'll have the capability to review. Can we get some more? I was glad to see so many new people coming out of the woodwork lately.

**Hare:** *points and jumps up and down* Look, she's back! I really can't believe that we got so many Reviews last chapter either. I woke up later last Sunday and was like *owl eyes* holy crap! I jumped up and down and giggled like the fan girl I am for nearly an hour. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

That said, we're going into chapter 8. Here's hoping that this one gets the same kind of response.

**D/c: Hare:** If we owned ANYTHING, we'd be rich. But we don't, so we're not. …. Well, Hattress has Aradia, but we're not making any money off of this, soooo what the hell, right?

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Aradia sighed as she stood with Zack in one of the common areas of the Manor. She was standing with her back to her fellow First in Training, staring out the window. She was in her uniform again. She had been released the day previously from her 'grounding,' as she called it. Carin had been reluctant to do so, but it was obvious that the wounds were completely healed, and now little more than scars to serve as a reminder of that horrendous Mission.

Zack had returned just before that with his head low. Angeal had disappeared as well, while on mission in Wutai. Rumors were going around that the ground was cursed for ShinRa troops because two of the Firsts had gone missing and their trainees had come back. No one was willing to even train for the position of First, at this point.

The two of them had fallen into a depression. Neither spoke unless spoken two, and they had a mutual understanding not to mention their mentors. Aradia had left everyone under the impression that she was upset that Genesis had vanished and that he was now being labeled a deserter. She only wanted to rejoin him at his side. Zack, she knew, was upset because Angeal had vanished without a trace after Genesis Copies had appeared during their mission in Wutai.

Aradia looked up as Zack's phone rang. It was common knowledge that the two of them were always together, joined by their grief and depression. Everyone also knew that Zack was the more forthcoming one, and so whenever they were needed, Zack was the one they contacted.

Zack stopped his exercises and answered his phone. "Hello?" He paused and looked more than a little confused. Aradia couldn't hear the person on the other end of the line from her distance, but she turned to face her comrade with vague curiosity. He shrugged his shoulders at her. "Yeah, that's me, but who are you?"

Aradia stepped toward him, unwrapping her arms from around her stomach as she reached down to check her arm blades. It was a nervous habit at this point. She did it to keep her hands busy. Her coat was draped over the chair, so she had easy access to them.

Zack hung up the phone, shooting it a bewildered look. "Who the hell was that?" he asked, looking up at Aradia. "We've been called the briefing room."

Aradia grabbed her coat as he turned to lead the way out of the room. "Why?"

"Didn't say." Zack shrugged. "Just said that Lazard wanted us in the Briefing Room."

Aradia frowned. It wasn't unusual for them to be called up, but they usually knew who was calling them. Aradia swung her coat around her shoulders and followed Zack into the elevator.

She leaned against the wall and wrapped her arms around her stomach again. She felt as if she were still wounded. As if her skin was constantly tearing apart.

Zack shot her a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

Aradia shrugged. "More or less. It's not my wounds, Zack, don't worry."

Zack nodded and they made their way into the room. Lazard was sitting in his usual spot at the head of the U-shaped terminal. Aradia stood with her back against the wall and one arm wrapped around her stomach while the other one retch up to hold the opposite shoulder. Zack sat down.

"Any word on Angeal?" Zack asked.

Lazard shook his head. "Like with Genesis, we've lost even phone contact with him." He told them.

Aradia suppressed a snort and opted to roll her eyes instead. She knew that would happen. If Angeal had gone with Genesis, then there was no way he would be in contact with ShinRa.

"Then why call us?" Aradia asked, sharing a look at Zack.

"Your new Mission." Lazard told them. "You're being sent into Banora, of the Mideel Area, to check out the hometown of Missing First Class SOLDIER Genesis."

Aradia twitched as she was suddenly paying rapt attention. Her eyes focused on the image of him that had come up on the overhead screen. She held herself tighter as she felt the pain in her chest quicken. There was a chance … Perhaps …

"… He will go with you." Lazard was saying, drawing Aradia out of her brief thought. She looked over at where Lazard was indicating. A Turk. She bit back a growl and clenched her teeth. She hated Turks. They were almost as bad as the Restrictors, in her opinion.

"I'm Tseng, of the Turks." The man said. He was tall with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his head. He was dressed in your typical Turk uniform. A suit and tie.

Aradia bit back another growl as he spoke. She really did hate Turks. They'd picked her up on the outskirts of the City after her 'release' from Deep Ground. The ones she'd met had been rude and demanding, especially given her weakened state. Hollander had given them hell for it.

Zack got a call from one of his friends in the infantry and Aradia turned her glare on Lazard. "What's the point in sending us out on a fact finding mission?" She asked. "With a Turk, no less?"

Lazard gave her a sharp look. "You were requested for the mission by it's previous recipient. Tseng is going along with you to make sure that the two of you don't mess up. You're still kids within this company and need to be babysat."

Aradia resisted the urge to kill the man. More and more lately she'd been noticing the reactions of Tsviet coming into her. She'd always disliked Lazard, but she'd never wanted to do him physical harm. Ever since Genesis' departure in Wutai, since revealing her story to him, she'd been having more and more violent reactions, treating any of her superiors as a Restrictor.

Zack came back and looked at Aradia, holding out a sword to her, his own strapped to his back.

Aradia frowned. "I don't need it." She told him, locking the fingers of her left hand into the triggers for her arm blades and clenching her fist. "This is all I need. It's how I was trained and I'm quite sick of carrying around something so … unrefined." The Rapier, the Katana. They were refined weapons, used in formal fights. The broadswords that the ShinRa SOLDIERS used were mass produced garbage.

Zack frowned but leaned the sword into the corner of the room. He turned to Tseng and nodded.

Aradia sighed as they were led out of the room. "I didn't mean it that way, Zack. I just don't like using Broadswords."

Zack gave her that carefree smile he'd been missing. "I know. I should have known better than to bring it to you, but I didn't know if you had your arm blades on for sure and I didn't want to have to run through your room looking for them. You never answer your phone anymore, so I couldn't go that route either."

Aradia gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I had them on when we were in the common area. You've been really unobservant lately."

Zack smirked at her and turned to Tseng. "So … this is just a fact gathering mission, right? Piece of cake."

Tseng shook his head. "Don't take this mission lightly. It was originally assigned to Sephiroth. If you're not serious about this, you're going to fail."

Aradia snorted. "Of course." she looked at Zack. "No wonder we were assigned to it."

Zack frowned. "What do you mean?"

Aradia sighed. "Sephiroth doesn't trust himself to take his two best friends into custody. So he's sending us, their protégées, in to do his dirty work, knowing that we would try to convince them to come back."

"Well, yeah." Zack said. "I don't know what happened in Wutai, but I know that Angeal wouldn't desert. Not after all of his talks about Pride and Honor."

Aradia sighed. "I know that as well as you do, Zack. I've gotten a few lectures myself."

Zack frowned as they boarded the helicopter and were off to Banora.

* * *

Aradia frowned as they looked around. They were under some strange looking trees. Some bore fruit, some didn't. They were white, and bent over the path like an archway.

"Weird trees." Zack commented.

"They're Banora White." Tseng said.

"Dumb Apples." Aradia said, smiling at them.

"You know about them?" Tseng asked.

Aradia shot him a 'don't be stupid' look. "My Mentor _was_ Genesis, Turk."

"Wait, you mean that this is Banora Villiage?" Zack asked. "Angeal's hometown?"

Aradia rolled her eyes. "Once again, acting like an excited puppy." She muttered to herself as she started forward. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she sensed it. Something was coming.

Launching through the trees were soldiers and Fiends. The soldiers went straight for Tseng and Zack, while the Fiends, noticing that their 'prey' were otherwise lost, turned on her. Aradia locked her fingers in the triggers of her blades and sliced the monsters apart in a second.

Zack and Tseng were watching her. She turned to them and wiped her blades off with a rag that she pulled out of her pocket before releasing the triggers. Aradia sighed and shook her head. "Alright, this is getting irritating." She muttered.

The came to the end of the path and Aradia frowned as they peered around the wall. "Machine." She muttered to her companions. "And clones as well."

"This isn't good." Zack murmured.

"How do you know that they're clones?" Tseng asked.

"Sephiroth." Zack told him. "He told me in Wutai, I told Aradia about it later."

Tseng nodded. "Aradia, can you and I will go into the city while Zack deals with this."

Zack turned to stare at him. "Why do I have to go in alone?"

Aradia turned and smirked at him. "I don't have the weapons for a fight like this, Zack. My arm blades would be useless against that machine."

Zack nodded. "Alright. I'll see you on the inside."

Aradia nodded as Zack raced out and started fighting. Aradia stabbed Tseng with a glare before bolting through. She cut down both clones that came at her and raced into the city proper, stopping only when she reached the manor at the top of the hill. Tseng joined her a moment later.

"What was that about?" Tseng asked.

"Nothing." Aradia murmured. She frowned as she looked across the city. "It's deserted."

Tseng nodded. "The information says that Genesis took all of the townspeople out, save for Angeal's mother."

Aradia frowned. He was dead set on his plans, whatever they were. He would do anything to achieve them. She looked over as Zack came up and she tilted her head to the side, trying to discern if he had any injuries. "Are you alright, Zack?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

They both turned to Tseng to find him over by the tree that stood in the middle of the yard. They walked over and he turned to them. "It's a fresh, unmakred grave. I'm going to do some investigating here. You two move into the town proper and see if you can find Angeal's mother. Aradia, I want you got go a little bit further out and see if you can find anything. Call my cell if you do."

They nodded and she and Zack set out. She would obey orders for now. She may despise Turks with a passion, but she obeyed her superiors without fail. Residual effects of being under the Restrictor Chip in Deep Ground.

Zack shot her a worried glance. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked.

Aradia smiled at him, though it didn't reach her eyes. They both knew the next words out of her mouth would be a lie. "I'll be fine, Zack. I just want to get this mission over with."

Zack sighed and didn't press further. She never told you how she was really feeling. She didn't want to rely on anyone. He couldn't blame her, but there were still things that people needed to express, and she didn't do that.

They made it into the city proper and Zack started trying doors. They found a fiend and machines that needed to be dealt with. Aradia frowned. Genesis might actually be a little pissed off that she was helping to deplete his forces, but she needed to keep up appearances. She helped Zack dispatch the monsters that were attacking and turned towards the path down the road.

"I'm going to go ahead, Zack. You can deal with finding Mrs. Hewley on your own?"

Zack nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Aradia waved and took off down the road at a run, her blades out, just in case. She smirked, as once she was out of sight of the city, she slowed to a walk. She unlocked her blades and slid them away, bound and determined to find Genesis.

This was her chance to get away from ShinRa. Tseng would take the report back to Lazard that she had deserted, mid mission, and that she and Angeal and Genesis had died in the planned bombing of Banora. As long as Zack got Mrs. Hewley out in time.

She looked up and saw a clone standing in front of her. Her fingers immediately went for her triggers, stopping only when it motioned for her to come with it. She frowned. She'd never seen one so cognitive before.

It led her into an old warehouse on the outskirts of town and to an office space in the loft area. She looked around and saw a mako cell, causing her to start backing away.

Her eyes widened as she realized that the face inside was that of a Genesis copy. "Genesis, what the hell are you doing here?"

An arm snaked out and caught her around the waist, pulling her against a hard chest. "Building an army to take revenge on ShinRa." A soft voice murmured against her ear. "Aradia, how did you find me?"

"Lazard sent me and Zack on assignment to find out what we could about what was going on in this village, since it was once your home. They had a feeling that you'd set up shop here." Aradia murmured. She rested on Genesis more fully as he rested his chin on her shoulders.

"How soon is your next injection?" Genesis asked.

"Two weeks." Aradia told him. "That's why Lazard sent me. He figured we'd be back in time. Sephiroth specifically requested that Zack and I be put on this assignment in his place so that we could bring you and Angeal home." She looked up at him. "I, of course, started formulating how to get away from them as soon as I found out."

Genesis smirked and pulled away, walking over towards the mako cell. "What would you have done if I hadn't been here?"

"Gone back to ShinRa and waited for my next chance." Aradia told him.

Genesis smiled. "Of course. You're very stubborn."

Aradia glanced at him. "Genesis, what's wrong?"

Genesis shook his head as he looked up towards the cliff. "Your friends are coming."

Aradia's face hardened. "Good. I'm done playing the part of the good girl." She looked around and walked over to the window. "Where's Angeal?"

"He's around here somewhere." Genesis said, smiling slightly. "He said he had something he wanted to check on."

Aradia frowned. "Right." They heard the crash of glass in the main room and Genesis started moving towards the side door.

"I'll be back." Genesis told her. "Stay here."

Aradia nodded, unsure of what he was planning but willing to go along with it. "Of course." She looked out the window and watched as the Fiends started trolling around, scenting fresh meat. She could smell it too. The clones being slashed to pieces right outside the doors that led to where she was. The scent sent her into something of a haze. In her days in Deep Ground, they would bring in animals and people alike for them to slaughter, to teach them the enjoyment of the kill, as well as to follow orders. Rosso had a field day with it, and Nero learned to love the sensation of drawing someone into the void. Only Weiss and Aradia were adverse to the idea on any level. Weiss hated having to follow orders like that. Aradia didn't want to kill the humans. In the end, it was kill or be killed, as the humans, realizing what they were being subjected to, began to fight back.

"Aradia!" Zack's voice drug Aradia out of her reverie and startled her into spinning around.

"Zack." Aradia murmured. Of course. They would have come in to look for Genesis. It meant that Tseng wasn't far behind. This wouldn't end well.

"Did you find anything of interest?" Zack asked.

"_A mysterious abyss, tis the Gift of the Goddess. In pursuit of this gift we take flight. Within the heart's water surface a hopeless wander will flow. Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below_. You're quite noisy, Zack the Puppy." Genesis said, walking in. Aradia turned to him, smiling as she recognized the quote. Loveless, as usual. She turned to Zack with a smirk.

"Obviously, I have." She told him. She allowed Genesis to wrap his arm around her. "Actually, it was more like he found me."

Tseng came running in and froze. "Let her go, Genesis. We've investigated the graves at your house. The other members of our staff that were dispatched here earlier all seem to be dead. I'd like to keep the same from happing to one as valuable as Aradia."

Aradia glared as her hand fisted in the back of Genesis' coat. They were always concerned about losing her, about keeping her alive, but only because of her skills. Did they know anything about the way her mind works? Did they know that more often than not she was wondering if she could cut them fast enough for them to bleed blue? There were only a four people outside of Deep Ground that she didn't consider worthy of death. Two of them weren't present in the room.

Genesis chuckled darkly. "You think you know so much? You think you can threaten me? Your information seems to be lacking."

"Aradia, step away from him." Tseng said. "That's an order."

Aradia threw back her head and released a cold laugh. Her mind fell back into Deep Ground, facing the Restrictors. Orders, demands, and an unwillingness to follow.

"That isn't going to happen, Turk. You don't understand exactly what's wrong with what you just said, or any comments before that. To be honest, I don't have the time to explain it to you, either." She told him. Her voice was pitched low, husky. She'd stepped away from that voice, that personality, after her 'release' from Deep Ground. She needed to hide that personality to protect her sanity and those around her.

Genesis smirked. "Aradia is going to be coming with me." He told them, raising his hand and directing it at Tseng. "There's no reason for you to interfere anymore, Turk. She'll be well taken care of, so tell your masters not to worry." He fired a Fira at him, sending him flying into the wall and knocking him out cold.

Zack stared at Aradia for a moment before pulling out his sword, ready for a fight. "Aradia, how could you do this?"

Aradia laughed again, though it was little more than a delicate chuckle. "You have no idea what it's been like for me, Zack. And there's no way you could fathom the depth of my hatred for that company you cling to so willingly. In the end, this isn't just my only option, it's the only choice I would make, either way. When they betray you as they have every other worker they've had with only half a brain, you'll understand."

Aradia watched as Angeal walked in and took Zack's sword from his hands. He had it pointed directly at Genesis and she instantly fell into a defensive mode, watching him wearily.

"Hey, partner." Genesis said, smiling. "I see you've made your decision. As your long-time friend, I'll respect the choice you've made, but you have to tell me one thing. Can you really live in that world. After all that I've told you?"

Genesis smiled down at her. "Lets go. We've got places to go and things to do, and only two weeks to get you somewhere safe."

Aradia nodded and waved at Zack as they passed him. He was still staring dumbfounded at Angeal. She heard the clang of a sword and then Angeal was on her other side. He looked down at her.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

Aradia glanced at Genesis who had a slight smile on his lips and looked at her expectantly for the answer.

"Because I want to help him, Angeal." Aradia told the dark haired man. "And because I need to get away from those bastards that destroyed my life." She bit back a snarl as they exited the warehouse and the Fiends parted for them. "I'd love nothing more than to watch ShinRa Fall."

Genesis tightened his grip around her waist as he led her towards the city. Genesis pulled her aside while Angeal went to check on his mother. "Is that why you're really here, Aradia? To see the fall of ShinRa."

Aradia shook her head. "I want to help you, Genesis. In any way I can." She smiled at him. "Besides, someone has to protect you from all the bugs."

Genesis glared at her as he watched Zack chase Angeal out of Gillian Hewley's home. Aradia caught a glimpse of the woman laying on the floor. "Suicide?"

Genesis nodded grimly. "She may have been the only one with all of the information to help us in our goal, but she couldn't live with the shame of what she's done."

Aradia shot him a confused look that went unanswered as Genesis stepped out to deal with Zack. Aradia watched in mild fascination as Genesis summoned a Fiend. Aradia walked out to watched Zack fight it, using Materia and his sword.

"Magnificent." She murmured. Blood. She could smell it. It wasn't the blood of Angeal's mother, but the blood of the beast that Zack was fighting. She gave a demure smile and turned to Genesis. "It's strange, that you would use a summon instead of fighting him yourself."

Genesis smiled at her. "I don't have the energy. Hollander has been running experiments since we met up. Not only to make the clones, but also to see what it is that's causing me to degrade. It's tiresome."

Aradia nodded. "Understandable."

Zack brought down the beast and spun on them, rage in his eyes. "How could you use a summon creature. What happened to your pride as a SOLDIER."

Genesis sighed. "We are … Monsters." At Zack's confused look her added. "We've lost both our dreams and our pride."

Genesis stepped away from Aradia and revealed to them both a single black wing sprouting from his back. Aradia stared, completely fascinated. She'd seen nothing like it before, but the strange wasn't unfamiliar to her. He looked like a fallen angel. She turned to Zack with a slight smile, a spark of the person she'd let him become friends with.

"I hope we never have to face each other, Zack. I would hate to have to bathe in the blood of someone I deem worthy of life." She started walking backwards, towards Genesis. She felt his arm snake around her waist. "I'm not sorry I'm doing this, Zack. I'm going to help him get better. If this means leaving ShinRa behind, so be it."

"Aradia!" Zack yelled. "What are you going to do about your injections. You'll die without them and you know it. You'll have no way to prevent it from happening. You only have the one syringe that Carin gave you."

Aradia smiled and shook her head. "You don't know anything." Her voice turned dark. Genesis' grip on her waist tightened as he burried his nose in her neck. "I know my needs far better than you do."

Zack gawked as Genesis pulled her against him tighter. "Don't worry, Zack the Puppy. She'll be well taken care of. I'm not going to let her go as easily as I did in Wutai."

Aradia smiled and reached up to rest her head on Genesis' cheek. With a mighty beat of his wing, sending dirt and leaves scattering, he took them into the sky, moving away from the Village of Banora.

Genesis touched down several miles outside of town where Angeal was to meet with them. Aradia turned to face him. "I mean what I said, Genesis. I want to help."

Genesis smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "You being with me is enough to give me the strength to go on with this, Dia. Hollander is out for revenge and he said he would cure the Degeneration that I suffer if I help him."

Aradia shot him a skeptical look. "You're sure?"

Genesis nodded. "He knows that I'll torture him if he doesn't do as I ask. I can't exactly kill him because then I'll have no way of curing this." He motioned to the wing now folded behind him.

Aradia stepped around him and looked at it closer. "I think it's magnificent."

Genesis gave a dark chuckle. "The fanciful whims of a woman."

Aradia gave him a glare. "I have no fanciful whims, and I haven't in some time, Genesis Rhapsodos, so don't start that with me."

Genesis held up his hands. "Relax, Dia, it was only a joke." He looked over towards the village as the bombs began to fall, blowing the place to pieces. "I'm almost sad to see it go."

Aradia watched his face. There was something different about him. Something she couldn't quite place … but there were still traces of the old Genesis still there. They were hiding under his new persona, the front that he was putting up to stay brave in the face of his currently imminent death.

Angeal approached them, a frown on his face. He glanced at Aradia before turning to Genesis. "We're ready to go." he told him.

Genesis nodded. "Lets go, then. We have to prepare for Aradia's injection, and I think it's time that the information that we need comes out into the open, on all sides."

"Genesis, it'll get him killed." Aradia snarled.

Genesis shook his head. "I didn't say you had to give him all of the minute details, Aradia, just the basics."

Aradia remained silent and crossed her arms. Angeal frowned and nodded as he led them to the chopper that was waiting for them. It was a long trip back to where Hollander had set up shop.

* * *

Aradia frowned as she walked into Hollander's little science lab. He smirked up at her as he watched her sit down on the cot he had set up. "Well, well, well, Aradia, we're back to square one. I heard you had a close call back in Wutai. You should know better than to skip an injection."

Aradia glared at him. "Don't start with me, Hollander."

He smiled. "Sorry. If anyone understands what's happening in your body, it's me. I was a part of the original project."

"I know my history." Aradia snarled. "They never implanted me with his Genetics."

"I didn't figure they did." Hollander sighed. "If you had retained your ability with his genetics then I could just map yours and transfer it to him, because Genesis is able to be copied and transferred. Unfortunately, you're unable to be copied, so you wont be much help in the science department."

Aradia nodded. "As much as I want to help him, it's one thing I'm grateful for." She sighed and rested her hands on her forehead with her elbows on her knees. "I can't go through any more experiments, Hollander. He knows this. I explained a lot of what happened to him. Not all, but enough."

Hollander nodded. "I don't blame you. Your being here will help to keep his spirits up through all of this, because you and Angeal, above all others, understand what he's going through. Even the others like you wouldn't fully comprehend because their's is so immediate. His is a slow progression, much like yours. Yours just runs slightly faster."

Aradia nodded and moved to lay down on the cot. "Alright. Lets do this. I want to get this done and get back to him. There are some things that he, Angeal, and I need to discuss before we move on with any sort of plans."

Hollander nodded. "Time for the four hour ride."

Aradia shot him a withering glare before she closed her eyes and began to focus on fighting off the nausea, dizziness, and other sensations that came with these damned injections.

She would have to explain things to Angeal. Her origins at the very least, and what it was that she was capable of. She would have to explain to both of them the slipping of her control over the darker portion of her mind because of what she'd been subjected to.

She idly wondered what would become of her if they decided that her falling into the Tsviet mindset would be detrimental to their plans. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold off the ingrained bloodlust that came with it all. When she finally lost control, she would want blood, chaos, and destruction. It was taught to the Tsviets from the day they woke up, and that short stint in the Mako Cell had all but reawoken her need for it all.

No matter how much she tried to fight it.

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** As usual, Hattress wanders off at this point. She's probably on Genesis' coat tails or something by now. I just hope Aradia doesn't kill her.

Alright, so, thanks to the phenomenal response to last chapter, you've forced me to up my standards. 8 reviews folks. Yes, you read that right. EIGHT! I hope to hear from you, and please, make my master's day so she'll quit beating me with the damn stick.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

One of these days, we'll all be insane, then the sane ones will be the ones that are insane.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hattress:** Whoo, sorry about the late post but I just got back from camping over the weekend and I was waaay to tired to try posting anything at the time. I hope ya'll don't mind… On another note, there is something to take heed of in this chapter; there's light lemon in the middle. Nothing explicit but if you feel uncomfortable about reading it, you can just simply scan past it. For the most part this chapter deals with Aradia's feelings for Genesis and how she copes with it.

**Hare:** Yeah, we'll have it marked around the lemon so that you can skim past it, if you so desire. As for the rest of it, Hattress had it right, to a point, though there are a few more important details that are mentioned, so pay attention.

**D/c: Hare:** I don't own anything, Hattress has Aradia. Square Enix has anything from Final Fantasy VII. We just warp and twist it to suit our own needs.

**Chapter 9** (Hare: OMG! We've made it this far!)

* * *

Aradia sighed as she leaned against the wall. Their Modeohime base wasn't all that interesting. Genesis and Angeal were in the middle of planning. What, she had no idea. They seemed to have it in their heads that she wasn't capable of handling this kind of information so soon after her injection.

She thought they were full of shit. She moved away from the wall as Genesis and Angeal walked out of their little 'conference' room. Genesis smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling his nose against her neck and ear. She smiled and rested a hand on his cheek as she looked over at Angeal. "I suppose you want to hear about my past, now?" She asked.

Genesis nipped at her neck and chuckled. "Just the basics." He murmured to her. "If you're uncomfortable, then you don't have to go through all of the horrid details."

Aradia sighed. "Lets go somewhere quiet." She muttered. "I don't want the peons overhearing, no matter how mindless you've made them."

Genesis nodded and pulled away from her, motioning for Angeal to follow. Genesis lead them into a room set away from the general area where the 'soldiers' were collecting. Most of them had no conscious thought beyond what they were told to do, but a few of them retained something, and most were capable of speech.

Angeal sat down as Aradia moved to lean against the wall. Genesis sat down behind the desk with a smile, folding his hands and resting his chin on them.

Aradia sighed and shot him a glare. "Wipe that stupid look off your face, Genesis. This isn't happy fun time." She turned to stare out the window that was next to her. She heaved another sigh and glanced at Angeal. "How much do you know about the inner workings of ShinRa?"

Angeal frowned. "Just the chain of command and the workings through the SOLDIER units."

Aradia sighed once more and launched into her tale. She told him the bare minimum. Very little about the Jenova projects were mentioned.

"So what are we going to do?" Angeal asked.

Genesis rose from his chair and moved to wrap his arms around Aradia. "I've told you everything about what we are." He told Angeal. "Hollander claims that he can heal us, and stop the degradation before it kills us. All we have to do is help him exact his revenge on ShinRa."

Aradia frowned. "What are you talking about, Genesis?"

"Angeal and I are Project G." Genesis stated bluntly. "We are the ones that were the result of the project, and I'm the one from which the genes your former comrades were joined with. I was considered the failed experiment, and Angeal was the more successful one." He told her everything he knew about Project G and everything that pertained to him and Angeal. Most of the information she had. She'd spent enough time in Deep Ground to know most of the history there in.

She turned to Genesis. "So what are the plans to take down ShinRa?"

"Well, once we have a large enough army, we're going to attack Midgar." Genesis told her. "The clones are more than capable of dealing with any of the rodents that would stand against us."

"With the exception of SODLIER First Class Sephiroth." Angeal pointed out. "He's our friend, Genesis."

"He'll join us in due course." Genesis assured Angeal. "We just need the proper catalyst."

Angeal nodded. "I'm going to find somewhere to train." He murmured as he moved to walk out of the room. He turned to Aradia. "Are you alright?"

Aradia nodded. "I'm fine. My past isn't something I like to talk about, but it's easier if I have it out in the open."

Angeal nodded and walked out of the room. Aradia leaned further into Genesis' arms. "Are you sure this is going to work?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

"Yes." Genesis said. "There are very few that could stand in our way, and they'll join us slowly."

"I understand." Aradia said. She pulled away from him. "And what about us, Genesis. You have to know that there's really been nothing happening."

Genesis shook his head. "You've no conception of what love is, do you?" he asked. "To feel the need to protect another person, to care for them unconditionally."

Aradia didn't respond immediately. "Genesis …" She looked at him with a frown. "It's been a long time since I've been able to feel that kind of emotion. Deep Ground strips you of all ability to feel any complex emotion. Love, Envy … Those emotions don't exist in a Tsviet. We only feel to most basic and carnal desires. Contentment, lust, anger." She turned to face him fully. "We're trained to do as we're told, and feel only what they want us to feel. There is no fear. Only hate and anger. A need to kill. There is no love. Only loyalty. Rocky ties easily breakable by the slightest betrayal."

Genesis walked up to her. "Aradia, you're not like them anymore. You have friends. You have me. Someone who cares about you more than you could probably imagine."

Aradia stared at him. "You're right, Genesis. I'm not like them anymore, but I still have a hard time processing those emotions. I do care about you. More than my instincts tell me is smart. I would do anything for you and to protect you. I'll follow you through with this insanity because you're the only one that's shown me any kind of kindness." She frowned. "You're the only one that's shown me anything but blood."

Genesis nodded. "For now, that's enough." He told her. "You'll come to realize that its not just lust and loyalty that you're feeling, but for now, it's enough."

Aradia nodded and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I'm slipping, Genesis. I'm feeling a lust that I haven't felt for a long time. A lust for blood. A need for the kill. I think I may have spent too much time away from it all, and now I'm losing control. It's been getting steadily worse since Wutai."

Genesis held her against him and pressed his lips into her hair, even as he fisted it in his hand. "You'll be alright, Aradia. You'll have your chance soon. Those ShinRa dogs will bleed rivers for you."

Aradia pulled back and looked up at him. He was so perfect. He was hers. He leaned in and pulled her further into him. He claimed her lips in a fiery kiss, awakening in Aradia something that she hadn't felt since her first years in Deep Ground, when she was just discovering herself and what she had become.

She moaned into the kiss and gripped his arms and pulled him closer. She needed more. She wanted so much more. She needed to feel him against her.

And then her mind froze. What was she doing? She had an objective to complete. She needed to save Genesis not only from his degradation but also from himself. Losing her mind to him wasn't going to help. She pulled away from him and looked down. Genesis pressed his lips to her forehead and heaved a sigh.

"Soon, Aradia." he murmured against her skin. "Soon, you'll be mine, and you won't have this hesitation to take what it is you want."

He moved away from her and disappeared into the hall behind the door. Aradia leaned against the desk and rested a hand against her head. Was it really so wrong to want him like she did? It felt too right, but there were things that they needed to do that couldn't be clouded by lust. They needed to keep their heads intact and not lose themselves in each other.

But he just felt so right. She knew that she wanted him. She had for some time. Ever since he'd taken her to see Loveless.

_The goddess descends from the sky_

_Wings of light and dark spread afar_

_She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting_

The lines came to her from nowhere. They were the last three lines of the Prologue poem.

Was Genesis her gift from the Goddess?

She looked out the window and watched the birds fly free. They swooped and dived with an abandon she could only wish for. True, Tsviets feel no envy, but she wasn't as deadened as the others. She felt envy. She wanted the freedom to do as she pleased, unconstrained by the needs of others. She only wanted to worry about her own needs and the needs of the only man that truly mattered in her life.

She sat there, rolling the thoughts over and over in her mind until darkness fell, and she knew what she would do. She would take what she wanted, and she would have it all.

* * *

Aradia sighed as she stepped out of the stair hutch on the roof. Genesis was up here again. As of late he had developed an affinity for high places. She took in his back lit moonlight profile and felt a warmth spread through her. He was standing shirtless, in only a pair of pants and boots.

"Genesis, come inside." She said, walking over to him. She wrapped her arms around his and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's getting chilled."

Genesis didn't even look down at her. He was staring into the water below them. "Do you know what's wrong with me, Aradia?"

Aradia shook her head and buried her nose in his arm. "I'm sorry, Genesis."

Genesis sighed. "This …" He said flexing his wing. "Whatever is happening to me. It's bad. I feel like I'm slipping away."

Aradia held him tighter. He scared her when he got like this. "Genesis…"

"_Legend shall speak of sacrifice at world's end, The wind sails over the water's surface. Quietly, but surely." _Genesis said. He grabbed her arms and pulled her in front of him, pushing her back against the rail. "Aradia, something is slipping inside me. I can't control it."

Aradia stared up into his fierce eyes, her limbs going weak as they shone deep blue in the night, lit with a Mako glow. "Genesis, I can't help you if I don't understand."

Genesis pinned her against the rail by her hips and leaned over, burying his nose in her neck. His hand raked up her sides, dragging her light tank top with it as his nails dug into her side.

Aradia winced and tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck. How could he make her feel so much with so little? "Genesis, I've told you before. I want to help you in any way I can."

Genesis smirked and pulled away from her, though his hand was now wound in her tank top. "You can't do anything to help me but what you're already doing, Aradia. Having you here gives me strength. After that, it's up to Hollander."

The darkness in his voice, the barely contained rage, caused a shiver to skitter down Aradia's spine.

Genesis pulled her along with him as the sky opened up and began raining. "Come on." He said.

Aradia moved with him, keeping what precious contact she had with him. He pulled her flush against him roughly and spun her into the wall of the hutch. The feel of his wet skin against her's was almost too much for Aradia.

Genesis couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her tank top over her head and threw it away behind him, giving no heed to the rain. His hands sought out her breasts as he leaned over and buried his nose in her neck again. Aradia moaned as her breasts brushed against his roughened hands and his wet chest. "Genesis…"

**LEMON START**

She found herself pinned against the wall, his hands holding her's off to either side of her head and his hips almost bruising against hers, as he ravaged her neck, biting down nearly hard enough to break skin. Aradia moaned and threw her head back into the metal she was pinned against. She instinctively rolled her hips against his and caused him to press into her harder and move to look her in the eye.

Aradia watched his eyes fade from their usual aqua color to the tempest green of a raging sea. He leaned in and crushed his lips against hers violently, giving her not time to react before forcing her compliance. He pried her lips apart with his tongue and forced his way into her mouth.

Aradia groaned into the kiss as he thrust against her. He let her hands go and captured her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded it through his hair. His hands went to the front clasp on her pants and ripped it free with ease. He did the same with his own and pushed them both down.

His hands grabbed her ass firmly, causing her to moan again and roll her core against his length. He lifted her and wrapped her knees around him, thrusting into her sharply. Aradia gasped and threw back her head, reveling in the intrusion as Genesis thrust into her again and again.

She hissed, her arms gripping his neck tightly. He drove them both over the edge quickly. He rested for only a moment before he pulled away and helped her right herself.

**LEMON END**

"Genesis …" Aradia murmured as he took her hand when she finally hand her, now soaked, shirt back on.

Genesis shook his head and pinned her against the hutch again. "I'm not done with you yet, my little Dia." He said, his face right next to hers as he threaded his fingers through her hair. "I just don't want you to catch cold." She shivered again at the darkness that still colored his tone. "Come with me." He ordered, pulling away, taking her by her hand.

* * *

Aradia groaned as she woke several hours later, deliciously sore. She turned her head a little and looked at the man that was half covering her. His wing, amazingly enough, was wrapped around her, warding off the chill in the room. It was surprisingly soft to the touch.

She couldn't resist the urge to study him. He was extremely well built. While it was well known that Genesis was obsessive about his appearance, he never had to work out outside of training. He was just built that way. She rolled towards him and ran her hands up his back, smiling faintly as she felt the contours of his back. She stopped when she got to his wing. She'd discovered last night that it was incredibly sensitive. She smiled as she sat up to study the base of it.

She frowned as she saw what appeared to be cracks in his skin. They were faint, almost like fine lines to the touch. She pulled her hand away and was shocked to see dead skin. She looked down at Genesis to see him watching her, his arm still wrapped tightly around her waist. He noticed her gaze and nuzzled into her hip.

"Are you going to explain this?" She asked.

"I told you about the degeneration." Genesis told her, holding her close. He pulled away and looked up and down her body. "That's the result. This is what the degradation does." He ran his fingers over the scar left in her side from Wutai, and then the one next to it from Wiess. "Where did you get these scars. You're covered in them."

"Most of them are from training in Deep Ground." Aradia murmured. "They made us fight for sport. They wanted us well trained and accustomed to pain. Their favorites involved drawing blood." her voice took on a dark tone and her eyes faded completely black as she stared off into the distance. She ran her fingers over his and the scar that was left from Weiss. "When I was 18, they put me up against the strongest of us Tsviets. Though I was uncolored, I was unique in and of myself. I stood out against the others. He and I were training, he was trying to push me into having a will to live. It was something that I'd lost years prior. The Restrictor called First Blood and I knew I had lost."

"First blood?" Genesis asked. "Colored? I don't understand."

"First blood just refers to who can draw blood first in a training match. The Tsviet I was fighting had me pinned to the ground, and then stabbed me. If we didn't give them a show, something to study, they would force us into something, or they would torture us." Aradia told him. "The title of Color was something that, if you had been implanted with the Project G genes, you gained because you had developed something of importance. One of the Tsviets was called 'Crimson'. She was bloodthirsty and she was in love with the scent and sounds that came with the kill. It was an honorific, though the Restrictors never had much respect for us."

"And you?"

"Instead of a color, I received a mark." She ran her fingers over the tattoo on her right eye in the shape of a crescent moon. "Because I didn't degrade like the others, I was marked different, treated different. The others were proud of me, that I had become one of them, even though I was on a different level."

"You were close with them?" Genesis asked.

"No." Aradia told him. "Not all of them. The female that they called Crimson hated me more than anything. She would love nothing more than to bleed me dry. The leader of the Tsviets, was like a brother to me. His younger brother. Was a great friend as well, though he liked to play with me more than anything. His abilities were absolutely unique. And then there was the youngest one. She clung to me like nothing else because she needed someone to take care of her." She looked at Genesis as he ran his hands down her legs. "It was the first time in years that I felt a need to care for someone other than myself. She was so young. Only nine. She needed protection from the others."

Genesis nodded. "You'll see them again, Aradia. We'll bring down ShinRa and they'll be free too."

Aradia shook her head. "Deep Ground has become separate from ShinRa, Genesis. They have their own army, and they have their own funding now. Even taking down ShinRa won't stop them."

Genesis wrapped his arms and wing around her as he moved to hold her. She was so fragile. She needed someone to hold her and show her that the world was not all bad. There still was some good.

"Genesis, take me." Aradia breathed. "Teach me what it is to love." she whimpered now, tears running down her face.

* * *

**A/n: Hattress:** So there you go, chapter nine. Next chapter is going to be really something because it'll be the big 10. A major step for us in this fic.

**Hare**: Something like that. More like a record for Hattress. She's never gone past three. I, on the other hand, have a 32 chapter story up on my personal profile.

We also want to say thanks to all of our reviewers, and to the two that sent us a joint review just before posting, yes, it was counted as two, and we sincerely appreciate it. You pushed it up to eight for this chapter to be posted, which is what I asked for LAST chapter.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

"Sanity is madness put to good use." - George Santayanna


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: Hattress:** Heh, Hare pretty much took the wheel with chapter. I've been up to my neck in distractions lately and we had a late start with it. Well, nonetheless here's this week's chapter.

**Hare:** Yeah, this chapter was such a pain in the … anyway, here it is. It's up, obviously, and shorter than normal, I know, but I've been hit with a fit of writer's block, but I'm trying. Enjoy.

**D/c: Hare:** Aradia belongs to Hattress, Square Enix has FFVII, and I have NOTHING! Isn't my life grand?

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Aradia frowned as she made her way through their Modeoheim hideout. Genesis was planning to invade Midgar. They now had the units to do so and it was only a matter of time before they set out. The trip to Midgar would be a pain, but they would make it. Now, it was all a matter of finalizing the plans.

She stepped into the room that Genesis had turned into his office. She Saw Hollander and Angeal there as well. It was time. She moved and leaned against the side of Genesis' desk and crossed her arms, waiting for them to start.

"So, what are we going to do?" Angeal asked.

"I need to get at Mako Reactor 5 and Hojo." Hollander said. "There's something there that I need to get and I want him out of the way."

Genesis nodded. "I have no doubt that once we get there, they'll send out both Turks and SOLDIERs to try and stop us."

"The forces we've amassed will keep them busy." Aradia told him. "They really aren't much of a threat if they can't get to us."

"You underestimate Sephiroth." Angeal told her. "As long as he's loyal to ShinRa and SOLDIER, he will push the clones off on the Turks and head straight for us."

Genesis nodded. "Yes, we'll see him. Undoubtedly. Recent reports are that there's now a mark on all our heads. Angeal and I are set to be assassinated. Aradia is to be captured. I'm not sure if they're aware that Hollander is with us or not. The point to this is to get what Hollander needs out of the Reactor. That's it. Once that's done, we move out."

Aradia and Angeal nodded. Hollander was moving nervously. Aradia didn't trust him for shit. She merely the only reason that she allowed him near her is when she had to take her injections.

"What are you going to be doing?" Angeal asked, looking at Aradia. "Genesis and I can get around with ease, so we'll be protecting Hollander, But what about you?"

Aradia allowed a slow grin to spread across her lips as she smiled at him. "I have a bone to pick with some Turks. Genesis has so generously allowed me the chance to deal with them while you're all off at the Reactor. I'll be in Sector 8, with the clones, dealing with Reno and Rude." Her voice had gone soft, cold. More and more the Tsviet was coming out in her.

Angeal stared at her as she continued to smile. "And what if you're captured?"

"They'll send me back to Deep Ground." Aradia told him, tilting her head and looking at him. "They put my Restrictor Chip back in, and I'll be a puppet again. But they wont kill me. I'm far to valuable to them. Too much time and money was put into me. Of course, if that happens, I'll refuse my injection, and it'll all be over anyway. I don't care how painful the death is."

Genesis rested his hand on her hip and squeezed her to show his support. They weren't very open about their relationship around the others, even though they knew. Aradia and Genesis both favored discretion over obvious displays of affection. "It won't come down to that." he said. "Because if all goes as planned, we'll be in and out before anyone realizes we're actually there."

Angeal scoffed. "Since when does anything go as planned?"

"Good point." Aradia said, giving him a cheerful smile, degrees different from the one that she had given him earlier.

Genesis rose from his seat. "Alright, lets go. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Aradia followed Genesis out and they started to prepare for the flight to Midgar. Between the clones and the robots, it was quite the process.

* * *

Aradia smirked as she and Genesis landed on one of the spires in Sector 8 "Ah, beautiful Chaos." she murmured, wrapping her arms around him.

Genesis smirked. "Hollander wants to go deal with this right away. Angeal took him over but I have to go as well. Hojo is top priority. Why don't you go wreak some havoc in the city? The Turks should be hanging around Sector 8, as usual."

Aradia smirked. "Don't you know, Tsviets were created to be absolute Cold blooded killers. It would be my pleasure. The more I take out, the less there are to stand in our way." She looked up at him. "We'll heal you, Genesis. You know this. Personally, I think Hollander's whims should come last to that."

"I'll indulge him for now." Genesis told her. "But if he doesn't get a move on soon, we're going to be having a talk."

Aradia snorted. "Sure, sure. Put me down in Sector 8, I have a bone to pick with a few Turks. More specifically, the ones that packed me away to Midgar and ShinRa."

Genesis took off before dropping her down in the middle of the courtyard. He kissed her hard before he took off into the air, intent on his own mission.

Aradia smirked as she locked her fingers in the triggers of her arm blades. This would be fun.

She made her way through the city and found Zack talking to a couple of Turks in the middle of one of the other courtyards. She didn't let herself be known. She couldn't hurt Zack anymore than she had. Judging by his uniform, he finally had been made First. Good for him.

Aradia watched with a smirk as a couple of Turks came her way. She backed out of her hiding place and into the center of the area as they came at her. She held her arms at her side as they stopped.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the red haired one asked. She recognized him as Reno, the one who'd introduced himself when they picked her up outside of Midgar. She smirked. "Rude, it looks like we've found one of our missing SODLIER members. How are you doin', Sweetheart? You ready to come home?"

Aradia smirked. "Not by a long shot. I've got things to do and ShinRa isn't in the plans." She flexed her fingers, ready for a fight.

"Awe, come on, baby. You and me, we could have a night on the town if you came back." Reno said with a roguish smile.

Aradia rolled her eyes. "Honey, you ain't got nothing I want." She clenched her fist and her arm blades shot out. "Except blood to spill."

Both Turks stared at her in shock for a second before taking a defensive stance. "You can't take us, Girl." Rude said with a deadpan and a straight face.

"That's what you think?" Aradia snarled as they charged her. All those years working with Rosso and Nero, Weiss, she knew how to fight multiple opponents. "Perhaps its time to teach you boys that the submissive little girl you met isn't the one that's standing in front of you and that you big bad Turks aren't even a match for me."

Reno charged her first, predictably. He was the more outgoing personality, so naturally he would be the hothead. She blocked his baton easily. Rude came at her from the other side and she took a swipe at him, recognizing the diversion tactics immediately. She'd trained for too long not to notice. Didn't these idiots know anything?

She threw them both away from her with a strength that stunned them both. Rude came in from behind her after a split second. She blocked his attacks and launched her own as she realized that he fought, not with a weapon, with his fists. She unlocked the trigger on her right fingers and as the blade slid back into her sleeve, she punched him in the face, breaking his sunglasses and throwing him into a building. While she was distracted she felt a severe shock go through her system and heard Reno laughing behind her.

She relocked her fingers in the triggers out of sheer reflex and clenched her fist, launching the blade and spinning, not only to get away from the Electro-Mag Rod that Reno was using, but also to take a swipe at him. She caught his shoulder as she sliced at him and danced back a few steps. She had both eyes on both of her opponents. She couldn't afford an injury. Genesis would be pissed as it was that she'd been shocked.

She smirked as her bloodlust kicked in, smelling Reno's blood in the air. "You have no idea what that scent does to me." She murmured in a cold, seductive voice. "Just the scent of blood in the air sends me into a frenzy."

Reno stared at her for a moment before rising his baton at her. Rude walked up beside his partner. Reno had a hand on his shoulder, trying to stem the bleeding. Aradia smirked at him. They couldn't possibly understand, but it kept them busy so that Genesis could do what he needed to do.

Then, she was on the attack again, laughing as she moved. This time. She held nothing back. She wanted to see their blood. She wanted to taste it. Her bloodlust had fully engaged. She wanted more. She needed more.

Aradia stepped back as Reno took another stab with his rod. She hadn't landed many more hits. Once they realized that she was serious, out for blood, they'd taken her more seriously and started dodging her blades. Reno had one more cut down his arm, and Rude had taken a hit across the chest. They were tiring out and were worse for wear. They would take some time to heel, but in Araida's haze, she wanted them dead.

She smirked and ran at them throwing her blades forward, trying to reach them. She shot backwards as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and a giant shuriken went whizzing in front of her. She spun and saw a little redhead female standing there to catch the giant throwing star as it returned to her. Behind her was Tseng. She growled as they started to move in on her.

"SOLDIER Second Class Aradia Maynard, you are to return to ShinRa immediately." Tseng said. "We have orders to take you back in one piece."

Aradia threw her head back and laugh as her vision clouded red and she started to move, bouncing on her toes as she prepared for an attack. "The only way you're taking me back to ShinRa is as a corpse, Tseng. I will NEVER go back willingly." She snarled at him. She brought up one of her blades and licked the blood off of it. She closed her eyes as a pleasurable shudder went down her spine. "However, I'll gladly rid you of your life."

She charged him before she moved to the others, dodging the bullets that whizzed past her. "You have no idea what I'm capable of." She snarled, swinging at him. "You have no idea what that company has put me through. You'll never understand."

"Mako Injections are standard for all SOLDIER operatives." The female said, jumping into the fray. "I can't see someone getting bent out of shape about that."

"This has nothing to do with SOLDIER." Aradia snarled at her, taking a swing at her and cutting through her left shoulder.

"Cissnei!" Reno yelled, coming at Aradia with his Rod. Aradia managed to graze him in the stomach and kick him back into the stone fountain, knocking him unconscious.

Cissnei snapped at Aradia with her Shuriken and Aradia jumped out of the way. The second swing was blocked with an arm blade as Aradia smirked and thrust the second blade towards Cissnei. She caught the girl in the side and threw her into the wall behind her. Aradia spun in the same moment and kicked rude in the chest, winding him and sending him backwards. She turned to take a swing at Tseng and found herself with a gun to the head.

"I don't want to do this, Aradia. President Shinra will be extremely upset if we can't take you in alive." He relaxed his finger but didn't pull it away from the trigger.

"I don't care." Aradia told him, her voice dark and husky. "You'll never understand. I can't go back."

"Then I'm sorry." Tseng said. Aradia took that moment to drop and kick out, to knock him over. Tseng jumped back and pulled the trigger, causing Aradia to release the trigger on her blade and use her hand to support herself as she flipped away from him. She landed with her right hand out and her left on the ground with her legs spread behind her on her toes. She smirked at him, watching him like a fiend on it's prey.

"You'll never be on my level, Tseng." She taunted. She heard a groan to her right and saw that Reno and Rude were coming to. She frowned. This could be potentially bad. She needed to wrap this up and get somewhere to meet Genesis when he was done. These guys were serious, and playing with them was getting boring. They were able to at least counter her attacks, and while it proved interesting, she was getting tired of them fending her off. She wanted them to bleed.

"Reno, Rude, are you alright?" Tseng asked.

"We're alright." Rude said, helping Reno to his feet. They turned to Aradia, who was moving to her feet, backing away from them.

Aradia saw it then, an angel in red, coming her way. The vision snapped her out of her trance and she smirked. "Well, I must say, Turks, it's been fun, but unfortunately, I'm going to have to cut this party short." she still had that same seductively cold voice. She wasn't completely sane. "What a pity. You wouldn't believe how much someone bleeds when they're cut in the throat."

They looked at her in shock as she started dancing backwards. "Just where do you think you're going?" Reno asked, moving to chase her.

Aradia smirked at him. "With an angel." She told him simply as Genesis flew over their heads. Aradia reached up her hand and Genesis caught it as he flew by, picking her up as he went. "I guess I'll have to taste your blood later, Reno." She cackled.

She unlocked the triggers on her fingers and Genesis pulled her up against him. "What was that about?" He asked.

"Hmm, it's a Tsviet thing, Genesis. Don't worry." Aradia told him. He held her close as he flew off into the sky, Angeal hot on his heels. "Where are we going?"

"Modeoheim." Genesis told her. "Sephiroth and SOLDIER First Class Zack interfered with our plans, though we got some of what Hollander was after. Hojo, unfortunately, got away. Angeal has Hollander and is moving with the troops that weren't killed. We're taking a detour before we meet up with them."

Aradia hissed. Zack. Of course. "We'll get him, my love, don't worry." She pressed a hand to his cheek as a show of affection.

Genesis shook his head and buried his nose in her shoulder for a moment before he took vigil over where they were. "He's unimportant." He told her. "For now. I just want to focus on us for a few hours. Watching you with those imbeciles was intoxicating."

Aradia grinned. "You've seen me fight before." She murmured. "It didn't affect you then."

"You have no idea how much it affected me." Genesis told her, descending to the ground. "Why don't I show you?"

Aradia smirked. "If you must."

* * *

They arrived back in Modeoheim to find Hollander pacing his labs like a nutcase. Aradia generally avoided this area because of her injections, but she wasn't concerned with this time. Genesis rarely came down here with her, though he would eventually show up to support her through her injection.

"Hollander?" Genesis asked. "What are you doing?"

"Working." Hollander said, moving in and out between tables, stations, and the Mako cells in the back that Aradia would rather not think about. "It took you two long enough, getting back."

"We were busy." Aradia snapped at him. "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet, but I think I'm close." Hollander said. "I just have a few more experiments to run on the clones to see."

Aradia bristled. "You've been using the clones?"

"Hold your steam, Aradia." Hollander said. "The clones are little more than an empty shell, designed to follow orders. They don't think or feel anything."

Aradia turned to look at Genesis to see that he was impassive. She stared between the two of them for a moment before she turned and stormed out of the room. Before she stopped moving, she was sitting on the rooftop, crying.

She heard someone come out, and looked up to see Angeal watching her. "Dia?"

"I didn't know they were using the clones to test the Degradation." Aradia told him. "I though Genesis would have told me … that someone would have told me."

"This is why you weren't told, Dia." Angeal told her, sitting down next to her. "Because we knew that you would react like this. You're so vehement about what you went through in Deep Ground, but you know that it's a necessary evil. There's no other way to tell if the cures would work if not to test on Genesis' clones. If something bad happened to Genesis because of one of those 'cures', what would you do?"

"Kill Hollander." Aradia said, resting her chin on her crossed arms as the covered her knees. "Not just bodily harm, I'm talking no heartbeat, no blood."

Angeal nodded. "I understand. Do you see why we're doing it this way?"

Aradia sighed. "I understand." She murmured. "I'll put up with it, for now."

Angeal smiled at her and got back up to his feet. He held out his hand to her, which she accepted, and pulled her to her feet. He then, unexpectedly, pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay, Dia. We'll heal Genesis and myself, and we'll move on with our lives. Explain to ShinRa what happened."

Aradia smiled and pulled away. "Good luck with all that. I doubt the president is going to be very forgiving."

"Perhaps, but if that's the case, then we'll get out of Midgar. Get away from ShinRa."

Aradia sighed. "No matter what I do, I'll be hard pressed to get away from them. Not unless they start producing Mako for the general public. I have to have my injections, Angeal. I just don't know what I'm going to do later."

Angeal nodded. "Lets get back inside. Genesis was looking for you."

"How did you find me?" Aradia asked as they stepped through the door.

"I watched you head for the roof stairs. I figured I'd give you some time to process a bit before I intruded."

Aradia smiled at him. "Thank you, Angeal."

"You're welcome." Angeal said, moving to his own room.

"Angeal." Aradia called after him. "I don't care what you think. You're not a monster, and you haven't lost your honor."

Angeal smiled at her and ducked into his room. Aradia set off in search of Genesis.

* * *

It wasn't just days later that Aradia made her way through the factory at a run. "Move you ignorant shells. I need to get to Genesis." She was pushing her way through the throngs of clones that were preparing to move out, Genesis and Angeal clones alike. "I said MOVE!"

She skidded to a halt in the hall and slammed through the door. "Genesis, we have a problem."

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** This was something of a rush job, so let me know how it went. We'll see you all in the next chapter.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

Insanity is more abstract than Sanity, as it takes so many different forms.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/n: Hattress:** We're almost at the end of this story and only have about two more chapters after this one. Don't worry, though, Aradia's story won't be over. There will be a second half to this called 'Blue Eyes' and will take place after Dirge of Cerberus. Almost all of the plot will be original and the rating will be bumped up, not really for sexual reasons but for violence and just dark themes in general. I'm actually quite excited for it. :D

**Hare:** What she said. *grumbles under breath*

**D/c:** Hare: I don't own squat. Hattress has Aradia. Square Enix has the rest. It's just that simple.

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Genesis looked up at Aradia. "You're certain?"

Aradia nodded crossing her arms and looking out the window. "Angeal brought back the report himself. Zack, Tseng, and a couple of infantry."

Genesis frowned and rose from his seat, moving to stand behind Aradia. He rested his hands on her shoulders and kissed the back of her head. "It's time to have a talk with Hollander." he murmured. He turned away and started for the door. "Are you coming?"

Aradia nodded. "Absolutely." She followed him, adjusting her arm blades as she went.

* * *

Genesis found Hollander in the middle of the factory, going over something. Aradia was right behind him.

Hollander looked up. "Good, you've arrived. I was just about to come and get you. We've got a new target, since we can't get at Hojo right now."

Genesis glared and drew his sword. "I'm done following your orders, Hollander." he snapped. "This is done." He rose his sword to the level of Hollander's neck.

Hollander turned to run, only to find Aradia behind him with a smirk on her face and her arms down at her sides with her blades out. She raised her right in front of her and her grin widened. Hollander stumbled a bit and turned back to face Genesis.

"What are you doing!" Hollander asked. "You need me. Who's going to stop your deterioration if not me?"

"Jenova Cells." Genesis snarled.

The elevator doors came open and suddenly Zack was standing between Genesis and Hollander. Aradia hissed under her breath and moved to stand next to Genesis, moving like a cat with it's fur up, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Hollander tried to run and was stopped by the Infantry member that had come in with Zack.

"Good work, Cloud." Zack said, holding his sword out in front of him to deter Genesis and Aradia.

"You don't even know where the hell the Jenova Cells are." Hollander yelled around Zack. "Even if you do go to Hojo, there's no guarantee that you'll find them."

"Even if that's true, and I stay as I am and rot away, the world has lost it's path." Genesis snarled.

Hollander chose that moment to try and take off.

"Cloud!" Zack yelled. "Get him." and the young infantrymen took off.

"Aradia." Genesis snarled.

"I got him." Aradia said as she walked off. "You just be careful." She shot him a look over her shoulder as she went after Hollander at a run.

Aradia lost track of them. The kid had split off and went the wrong way by mistake cause Hollander was only a second faster, and then he ducked into a passage that Aradia couldn't find again. She growled as she walked back into the main room where she'd left Genesis.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

"_Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, Pride is lost, Wings stripped away, the end is nigh. _This is how a monster's road ends." Genesis said, falling over.

"We aren't monsters, we're SOLDIER-Where has your pride gone?" Zack snarled. "Where's the man Aradia looked up to so much?"

Genesis got up off the ground and started walking backwards. Aradia moved forward into the room and looked him square in the eye. He looked to her and his mako eyes softened. "_Even if the morrow is barren of Promise, nothing shall forestall my return._ If this world threatens my life-it has lost it's path." Genesis said, throwing himself off of the railing that he had been standing on.

"NOOOOO!" Aradia screamed running forward. Zack caught her and stopped her from following him over. "Genesis!" She yelled.

Aradia couldn't believe he did that. He just threw himself over the edge. He killed himself. He was so weak and injured that there was no way he could have flown off and saved himself. Why? Why did he have to kill himself. They could have treated him. She would have gone into the chamber with him if that's what it took. There was no reason for him to have gone …

Aradia dropped to her knees and rested her forehead on the ground. Now he was gone. The one man in the world she truly loved had taken himself from her. It was like being ripped from her family all over again. How could he have done this to her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Aradia, come on."

She looked up to see Zack giving her a sympathetic look. "What do you want?" She asked, her voice low … dead.

"Come with me. I'll take you down to Tseng. There's nothing left here for you. We'll take you back to the manor, have you treated, and back on your feet in no time."

Aradia gave a dark chuckle. "Still so young and naive." she murmured. "I won't be going back to SOLDIER, Zack, of that you can be sure." Rose to her feet and walked over to where Genesis fell. She contemplated throwing herself over, but knew that she couldn't do it. She may have hell ahead of her, but she couldn't take her own life. Not now. "_Legend shall speak,_" she murmured quietly to herself. "_Of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface. Quietly, but surely._"

Zack walked over and took her by the arm, leading her back to the elevator. "Just make this easy on yourself, Dia. I've got you, and there's no way you're going to get away this close to your injection."

Aradia didn't answer and let herself be led away, still lost in her thoughts. Zack took her down to were Tseng was waiting and handed her over. She sat quietly as Zack went back into the building.

"You know what this means, don't you, Aradia?" Tseng asked.

"I don't care." Aradia told him. "It doesn't matter."

"It's not the end of the world because he's dead." Tseng told her.

Aradia shot to her feet with a growl. "You don't know anything, Turk, so don't talk like you do."

Tseng glared at her. "Keep talking and we'll bind and gag you."

Aradia wisely closed her mouth and turned away from him. She sat back down on the ground and watched the sky.

Only one thought permeated her mind. Genesis.

* * *

Zack and Cloud returned to them and a chopper appeared on the horizon.

"Well?" Tseng asked.

"Angeal is dead." Zack murmured. "I took care of it myself." Aradia let out a strangled cry and buried her face in her hands.

"And Hollander?" Tseng asked, ignoring her.

"He got away." Cloud murmured.

Aradia cried out again and shook with silent sobs as uncontrollable tremors wracked her body. Angeal and Genesis were dead. Her veritable brother and her lover were gone. How could they do this to her? Let themselves be killed after all they had been through together.

"Load her up." Tseng told them with the barest hint of malice as the chopper landed.

Zack glared at him and nodded to Cloud to help him. They both walked over and wrapped one of her arms around their shoulders. They lifted her up and hauled her into the chopper between them.

"Aradia, this is Cloud." Zack told her as they took off. "He's in the infantry."

"I'd figured that you for myself, oddly enough." She told him with a sneer. "I'm Aradia Maynard. Not that its going to matter, once we return."

Cloud stared at her. "You were the understudy for Genesis."

"Yes." Aradia told him.

"You're a hero of the Wutai war." Cloud told her. "Why are they treating you this way?"

Aradia closed her eyes. "Because I deserted. Because I'm against the company." She glared at the back of Tseng's head. "And most of all, because I was part of the attack on Midgar, and severely wounded some of the Turks. I'm not the war hero everyone thinks I am. If it hadn't been for my injury, I would have never come back at all." she closed her eyes again and leaned her head forward.

* * *

Aradia kept her eyes on the floor as she was led into an office in the ShinRa manor. Tseng was leading her now. She had Turks all the way around her. All of the ones that she had wounded in the attack on Midgar. She could smell the dried blood on their wounds. It was wonderful.

"Aradia Maynard." She heard a male say. "I never thought I would have you in my office for this particular reason. The Restrictors told me you were well trained and wouldn't cause any trouble."

Aradia looked up and looked into the face of President Shinra. He was an obese man with blond hair and watery eyes. Aradia gritted her teeth and bit back her retort before returning her gaze to the floor.

"Not going to answer me, eh?" President Shinra said, frowning at her. "Just as well. Because of your recent actions, Aradia, there's only one fate for someone like you." He rose from his seat and moved to open the door on his left.

The two men standing behind the door caused Aradia's eyes to widen and her jaw to fall open. "No." She whispered.

* * *

A/n: Hare: Couple chapters left and then we're done, folks. Stick around.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

Insanity is an adventure, not an ailment.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/n: The Hare:** Here we are with Chapter 12. We're posting the last two chapters back to back because they're done, so we'll talk more in the next chapter.

**D/c:** Square Enix owns everything but Aradia. Aradia belongs to Hattress.

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Aradia stared at the two men in the doorway, disbelief coloring her face. "Weiss, Nero." She murmured. "What are you doing here?" She turned to President Shinra. "Why have you brought them here?"

President Shinra smirked at her. "You've become far too volatile to have outside of Deep Ground, Aradia. It's time for you to return to where you came from. You'll be lucky if you're ever let out again."

Aradia started to fight the hands holding her. "You can't do this to me." She snarled. "You won't make me go back to that hell. You'll have to kill me, first."

President Shinra laughed. "Don't be so dramatic, Aradia. We've invested far too much time and money into your project. No, you'll go back and we'll find a way to map you."

"You filthy, two-faced, money grubbing son of a bitch." Aradia turned to Weiss and Nero. "I can't believe you two would do this to me. Betray me like this."

"We don't have a choice, Ara." Weiss told her. "We're under direct orders to retrieve you and bring you home." his voice was soft, conveying how bad he felt about this.

Aradia broke her wrists free of Reno's grip and punched rude in the face, before kicking Reno away from her. Her blades were out and she was ready to fight. "You want me to go back, that's fine." She glared at the Turks. "But you can keep your fucking hands off me." She backed up and joined her fellow Tsviets in the door. "Take me back. We'll see what happens."

Weiss nodded to the others in the room before the turned and followed Aradia back into the hallway. "We're really sorry about this, Ara. When we heard … Well, you can imagine."

Aradia snorted. "It doesn't matter anymore, Weiss. I've lost everything I gained out here. There's nowhere left for me to go but back."

"What do you mean?" Nero asked.

Aradia smiled to herself. "I fell in love." She murmured, resting her head on his shoulder for a second. "I got to see what life was like on the outside. I got to eat real food and shop and make friends. I got to be relatively normal for a short time. He showed me how to be normal, even after we turned against the company." She sighed. "And then he died."

"I'm sorry, Ara." Nero said, wrapping his arm around her.

"We have a new member." Weiss told her. "Azul."

Aradia looked up at him. "What?"

"He came willingly, no less." Nero added. "It was the strangest thing. He came in spouting something about wanting to be stronger. They gave it to him."

"What kind of mad man …" Aradia shook her head. "I'm sure I'll find out."

* * *

Aradia glared at the Restrictors as they watched her enter the room, Weiss and Nero on either side of her. Shelke and Rosso were standing off to one side with a man with blue hair that Aradia assumed was Azul.

"Well, well, well." Said one of the head Restrictor for their sector. "If it isn't our favorite project. I see the President got sick of you quick enough. Welcome home."

Aradia didn't say a word. She knew better than to respond to anything these people said.

The man grinned. "Good, it seems your training is still intact. Well, we'll just get you in to have your chip replaced and then we'll get on with it, shall we?" he waved his hands and two men stepped forward. Weiss and Nero moved to stand with the other Tsviets. Aradia was stripped down to nothing more than the tank top and underwear that she wore under her uniform. Her arm blades were handed to the head Restrictor. He grinned as Aradia was locked in shackles. She wasn't going to fight them.

The man looked over the arm blades with a pleased smile. "My, my, these have seen quite a bit of action." He looked up at Aradia. "And what, may I ask, was their recent kill."

Aradia took a deep breath. "Their last kill was a pack of Fiends and a few Wutai Soldiers, Sir. Their last use was against those damned Turks that follow the President's orders like dogs."

The man grinned. "You have the rags, I assume?"

"In the coat." Aradia told him. That was what the others didn't know. She had been using different rags every time she cleaned her blades. It was the condition in which she received her injection before she left. Otherwise, she would have never lived to see her days in SOLDIER.

"Excellent." The man said. He passed the blades to one of the women behind him. "See that these are repaired and returned to Aradia in a timely manner."

"Of course, Sir." The woman said, leaving with a nod.

Aradia could see the large blue man quivering in anticipation. "It seems one of the others has a question, Sir." she said. Her tone got darker the more time she spent here. She knew that she would be carried off soon. She was surprised that wasn't the first place they took her.

The Restrictor turned to Azul with a glare. "What is it, you oaf?"

"Who is this girl?" He asked. "What makes her so much more special than the rest of us?"

The Restrictor laughed. "You fool. Didn't you pay attention when they were giving you your history lessons? This is Aradia of Rocket Town. The only one with a minor Mako Dependency." he turned back to her. "Speaking of, my dear, when was your last injection. If my calculations are correct, it should have been three weeks ago."

Aradia frowned as she thought. Her last injection had been two weeks before the Midgar attack. It had been a week since then. She nodded. "That's about right. Professor Hollander was giving them to me regularly."

"Hollander is no Professor." One woman scoffed.

"It's with his experiments that we were able to get as far as we were." The Restrictor said, glaring at her. "You will do well to keep your mouth shut. Now, lets get Aradia into an examination room. I seen new scars. As well, prep and OR, we need to get her chip back in. She was trained by Project G and is therefore more deadly than she was. I want a full assessment run on her before the week is out."

The others around them nodded and started moving. Aradia shot a glance at the other Tsviets who were giving her sympathetic glances, with the exception of Azul. Even Rosso was apologetic.

The next thing Aradia knew, she was laying on a gurney in one of the exam rooms they had set up.

One of the women that lived in Deep Ground was standing next to her with a syringe. "The Boss wants you to have you on a set Deep Ground Schedule, so you'll be getting your Injection early."

"It's fine." Aradia told her. "It's four more hours without the chip."

The woman nodded. "Yes, that's true. While you're dealing with that, I'll be taking account of your new scars."

"By all means." Aradia told her. "Some of them are from Project G's training, others are from my assignment in Wutai."

"It's obviously no holds barred." The woman said. She paused. "What was it like, to feel the sunlight?"

"Warm." Aradia told her. "Warmer than I've ever felt. Jama, it took them three weeks to find me."

"We know." Jama sighed. "President Shinra came down here in a storm because it was taking so long. You moved around."

"I had hoped, for a moment, that I wouldn't be found." Aradia told her. "Now, I realize that I shouldn't have allowed myself to be. I should have just let myself expire."

Jama sighed. "That would have been a true waste."

Aradia ignored her.

* * *

Aradia woke in a mako cell. She hated cells.

She opened her eyes and saw Azul staring at her. As usual, in Deep Ground cells, she was naked and chained down. Azul was grinning at her. She watched him turn his head and Shelke walked into view and started chewing him out, it seemed. Shelke turned and yelled something and a couple of the guards came running in. Two of them drug Azul out while the other moved to drain the mako from her containment cell.

"Aradia, give us an indication of pain."

She shifted her limbs slightly to take account of where they had implanted the chip. It was in her neck, as it was the first time. She put her fist up and pointed her thumb down to let him know there was minimal pain. The man nodded and opened the cell. A guard caught her as she fell, wrapping her in a blanket as I went.

Aradia smiled her thanks before turning to the man. "That Azul is a creepy bastard."

The man nodded. "When you've finished healing, you'll fight him first."

"Works for me." Aradia said with a smirk as she leaned on a nearby bar. Mako chambers made her weak. Luckily for her, this time she didn't have to go in for an injection directly after. She'd had one just before. They did it because they wanted her to heal from the surgery faster.

"Lets get you some clothes." The guard told her. "Then we'll get you back into assessment."

Lovely, Aradia thought. She hated this. They were only being this nice because she had just come back and they needed the information out of her. Unlike Weiss', her restrictor chip wouldn't kill her, but it would cause her a lot of pain.

Aradia stepped into a small changing room to pull on the clothes that were waiting for her. It was the same outfit she had come in with. Her Armblades were there as well. Thank you, Argento.

Aradia frowned as she looked around. It looked like she was in the North Sector. That meant that she was under the top Restrictor. They were keeping a very close eye on her then. She'd tasted freedom. It wouldn't be likely that she would again.

"Aradia, finish up."

Aradia sighed as she finished strapping on her arm blades. She looked down at Shelke who was just staring at her. "So they finally managed to break you, eh? I knew that SND would do that to you eventually. I warned you."

Shekle looked away and started walking away. "Follow me. The Restrictor wants to see you before you go into the training area to work with Argento."

Aradia sighed. "Fantastic."

* * *

A year she'd been back in Deep Ground. A year since Genesis and Angeal had died. A year since she'd been happy. The only thing that kept her going was Shelke, Nero, and Weiss. She didn't always get to see them, as she was usually working with the lower ranked brats that kept coming through.

It had, however, been interesting. Rosso had stopped being a total bitch to her. She now simply ignored Aradia. It was a step up.

The one that Aradia had to worry about was Azul. He had made it his life's mission to not only beat her in combat, but sleep with her as well. Neither were going to happen, though he continued to persist.

"Aradia."

Speak of the devil, Aradia thought. "What do you want, Azul?"

"To Challenge you." He snapped. "For three years I've had to put up with your smugness, and I'm a higher rank than you."

Aradia rolled her eyes but didn't look at him as she continued to strap on her arm blades. "You do realize that the only reason you're a higher rank than me is because they can't implant me with Project G Genes, right?" She turned to face him with a hard look. "Just because I'm not a Colored Tsviet, doesn't mean I'm not a Tsviet. I'm just a different kind."

Azul growled. "I challenge you."

Araida rested her face in her palms. "You're lucky I can't kill you, Azul."

Shelke appeared behind Azul. "The Restrictor would like you two to go to the VRS immediately." She told them in her cold voice."

Aradia glared at the roof, knowing it would do them no good. Azul was grinning. He was getting what he was asked for.

Aradia sighed as she stepped into the VRS it was like the Training Room in the ShinRa manor. She would hate to get in trouble for doing major damage, but all fights here were to the death at the very least.

"You asked for this, Azul." The Restrictors muffled voice came over the speakers. "THIRD BLOOD!"

Aradia sighed. This would be easy. Azul used a cannon. She was smaller and lighter than he was and her weapons were more versatile. She didn't even need the goggles offered to her to assess her opponent, unlike Azul, who used them every time.

Take all the advantages you want, dumb ass, Aradia thought as she locked her fingers in the triggers. She wanted his blood. This room always smelled like it, and she loved it. As soon as they were told, she was moving, dodging around his bullets at lightning speeds. She came around at him and sliced him open at the back of his waist before she slid around him and forced herself to a stop, bent over with her legs out behind her, her blade planted in the ground. She released the blade from the ground, noting that the blood had come off. She held herself steady with her hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Azul?" Aradia asked, her voice getting quieter and more deadly by the second.

"You won't win this time." Azul snarled. "And when I beat you, your ass is mine."

Aradia gave a deadly chuckle. "You keep telling yourself that." She was moving again before he had a chance to fire his canon off. "You'll never beat me, Azul. You don't have the skill. I have years more training than you do." She launched herself at him from overhead and sliced his shoulder open before he could even blink. Aradia landed standing ten feet from him.

Azul took advantage of the moment she was unguarded and fired at her. She moved just in time to have the bullet graze her side.

Aradia glared at him as she sat crouched twenty feet to the left of where she'd been before. "Nice shot." She murmured huskily. "It won't happen again." She was moving once more. She raced for him, dodging the bullets again with all the speed she had with her wounded side. She flew past him and it took a moment for him to register that she had cut his shoulders open across his back. "I win again, Azul." she murmured, licking the blood from her blade.

The doors were unlocked and a few of the medical officers ran into the room, swarming them both.

"It's not that bad." Aradia snapped at them as they started wrapping her up. They couldn't really give her an injection because it would put her out and they had other tests for her today.

"It's worse than you think." The man tending to her snapped. "I hate that canon. Argento wasn't thinking when she designed that thing. Come on. We have to get you down to medbay before this gets any worse."

"Aradia, you've won again." The Restrictor called to them. "Congratulations. Now, why don't you be a good little girl and follow the doctors orders. After that, we might let you see Weiss the Immaculate as a prize."

Aradia kept her comments to herself and followed the man down to medbay. She was tended quickly. Ten stitches later she was taped up and sent on her way.

Parin, one of the people that run the experiments, walked up with a demure smile. "Alright, The Restrictor has told me to take you to the Immaculate Emperor." She giggled a little at the name. "Come with me."

Aradia glared at the back of her head and contemplated slicing her head off before she noticed where they were going. The very core of Reactor 0.

She saw him sitting there with a bored look on his face as he stared at the ceiling. "So what insignificant peon have they sent to me today?" he asked without looking up.

"I didn't know you felt that way about me, Weiss." Aradia said with a smirk. "And here I thought you loved me."

Weiss looked up with a smile. "Ara. What did you do to earn a trip to my hell?"

"Sliced Azul up again." She said, stepping forward around Parin.

"Aradia, you shouldn't go near him."

Aradia shot her a glare. "He's not going to hurt me, you idiot." She turned and continued towards Weiss, falling to her knees in front of him.

Weiss chuckled. "Bowing before your Emperor?" He shook his head. "Ara, you never fail to amuse."

Aradia smirked. "I thought you might enjoy that. She moved to sit cross-legged in front of him. "Azul wont stop his pursuit of me. He doesn't realize that there's only one man that will ever use this body."

Weiss sighed. "I wish I could help."

Aradia shook her head. "I'll just have to keep beating him. They keep upping the count on us when we fight. We're up to three, now."

Weiss shook his head. "I think he provides more amusement for the Restrictors than the rest of us combine. Especially in his fruitless pursuits."

"Weiss, what are we going to do?" Aradia asked in a low murmur. "We can't spend the rest of our lives down here. I can't spend the rest of my life down here. Not after that few months above ground."

Weiss smiled. "We have a plan. Wait for Argento to contact you."

Aradia nodded. "Understood."

* * *

Aradia leaned against the wall with a sigh. She'd been back for two years now. She'd break before long. She was but a shell of her former self. She didn't act like she used to. She'd become emotionless, except around her fellow Tsviets. She was regularly awarded with visits to Weiss, Nero, and Rosso. Rosso and Aradia had put aside their differences in their want to escape this hell they had lived through. After that, they got along fairly well.

Aradia watched as Argento went through the motions of training a few of the new recruits, as it were. The company wanted super soldiers. They had, apparently, lost all of their best fighters and were well on their way to a complete crash. Aradia frowned. She knew that she was slipping and it wouldn't be long before she lost it completely. The Restrictors knew this as well. They kept her on a very short leash, locked in the North Sector under the strongest Restrictor, under the watchful eye of Argento, where she couldn't get out. If she went anywhere else in the compound, she had an escort of one of the other Tsviets. It was either Argento or Shelke that escorted her. The Restrictors wouldn't let her go with Azul alone anywhere. She was grateful for that much at least.

Aradia hated her life now more than ever. She wanted to be completely free of the company. The longer she was in deep ground, the less likely that dream seemed.

* * *

The inhabitants of Deep Ground were in an uproar. Someone important was being brought in today. Aradia sighed as she stared at the bars on her room. Six years since she'd lost _him_. Six years since her return to this hell. Three months since she'd been locked in her room.

She knew that something important was happening today. She just didn't know what it was. Ever since her punishment started, three months ago, they'd withheld all information from her except what she needed to know. All because she'd tried to kill Azul once and for all.

At this point, she only kept track of time by keeping track of how many injections she had. Seven sets of twelve. She kept the tally on her wall. She didn't even bother trying to control her body's natural responses anymore. She didn't care. She wanted to die. She wanted to be with _him_. She was more than ready for death. She welcomed it.

But they wouldn't give it to her.

Shelke appeared in front of her door with a food tray. It was only a Tsviet that fed her these days. Shelke and Argento were always present when someone was in her room. She was too dangerous. Too unpredictable. Too unstable.

Shelke slid into the room and placed the food down on the table. "Your sentence is almost up. A few more days at most. The Restrictor is quite pleased that you've been as well behaved as you have been. Azul has been moved to another Sector so that you'll have no contact with him upon your release."

"Get out, Shelke." Aradia told her. "If you're not going to kill me, show me mercy, then get out."

"Still dwelling on that?" Shelke asked. "Fine." She turned and left as quickly as she came, with only one last scathing comment. "Today's guest, had you behaved, would have been brought to see you."

Aradia didn't answer her as she stared blankly at the floor. She didn't care. She wanted to die. She wanted the pain to end.

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** One chapter left. O_O we're almost done with this one. Shock and amazement, folks.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare

Insanity is just the beginning of an adventure.


	13. Chapter 13: Epilogue

**A/n: Hattress:**So here it is; the final chapter. Special thanks to those of you who have followed the story through all 13 chapters, we really appreciate it. There will be more to come with Aradia's story, so be sure to keep checking up on our profile. Part two will be up in a month. The Hare and myself are taking a little break to work on our own individual stories.

**Hare:** Yeah, this is it. The last chapter. Then we're taking a month off. Check back on August 1, 2010, folks. We'll have the first chapter of Part 2 up and ready for your viewing pleasure.

**D/c:** (and the last one for this part, thank god) Hare: You know it by now, I would hope. Aradia belongs to Hattress, FFVII belongs to Square Enix, and I have Nothing. Nadda. Zilch.

**Chapter 13: Epilogue **

* * *

Aradia stood with the other Tsviets as she looked down at the man that they had used to place the HJ Virus in Patricia. "I don't like this. It's wrong." She told them.

"It's getting us out of here." Rosso told her. "Don't complain. You want to feel the sunshine as much as I do."

"We all want to see the outside." Argento told them. "But now is not the time. We have more work to do and other Restrictors to overthrow."

"Of course," Azul said, "This really is a waste. He would have made a wonderful fighter."

Aradia glared at him.

Weiss shut Azul up with a look. "Is he unusable, Shelke?"

"He's of no use to us now." Shelke said. "After the prolonged connection with the SND, his mind is nearly completely shattered."

"It's a shame." Rosso said, nearly lamenting. "He worked so hard for us."

Aradia sighed. She turned her eyes on the man lying on the floor, near death while the others had a technical discussion about how they were uploading the virus. They would know, in three days time, if it worked or not. If it didn't, Weiss would be dead and Nero inconsolable. If it worked, they could take out the others and be free.

In the end, it was all about time. Weiss knew that when they escaped, she would leave the Tsviets. She couldn't live this kind of life anymore. She didn't want to live at all, but she knew that she could no longer continue her existence with these conditions. Rosso, Azul, and Argento turned to leave first. Weiss clapped a hand on Aradia's shoulder before following. Aradia eyed Shelke once more, watching as she disconnected from the man's mind. Aradia chose that moment to turn and walk out of the Throne Room. Weiss was waiting for her.

"If all goes well, Ara, you'll have your freedom from all of this." He told her, smirking slightly. "I suppose you would turn me down if I offered you a place at my side."

"You know I would." Aradia told him. "I don't want to fight except to defend. I'm tired of bathing in blood. I'm tired of the monster that I've become. I want to live a normal, human life, Weiss. You have to understand that."

Weiss nodded. "I do. None of us will come after you once we break free. You have my word. Do what you need to do. You know that you'll always have family here if you ever decide to come home."

Aradia smiled at him and caressed his cheek. "I know." Aradia walked off to find something to occupy her time. She walked into what was usually Rosso's domain. Since she and the redhead had found their camaraderie in their desire to see the sky, she had been allowed in here without retribution. Aradia sighed as that man's face entered her thoughts again. "_My friend, do you fly away? To a place that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow. No matter where the winds may blow._" She smiled as she spoke the quote aloud, going into the full verse for her own comfort. "_My friend, your desire, Is the bringer of Life, the Gift of the Goddess. Even if the morrow is barren of promise, nothing shall forestall my return._"

She felt her heart clench as she remembered that those were _his_ last words as he fell from that platform in Modeoheim. She sighed and hugged herself as she fell to her knees, the grief over taking her, even nine years later. "_Legend shall speak, of sacrifice at world's end. The winds sail over the water's surface, Quietly, but surely._" Over the years, those lines, those poems, had given her solace and comfort, because he was the one that drilled them into her head. He was the one that quizzed her on them. He was the one that had taught her the beauty of his dream.

"That is beautiful." Rosso said, walking up. "I've never heard you speak those lines before, Ara. Are they your own?"

Aradia smiled as she remained where she was. "No. No, those were excerpts from a poem I was taught in my few months above. A story called Loveless. It's about three friends and their pursuit of what is called the Gift of the Goddess. My mentor drilled it into my head, and since his death, I've used them to comfort myself."

"I'm sorry, Ara." Rosso said. "I know that you have changed since your time above, and even more so since your return."

Aradia nodded and rose to her feet, locking her fingers into the triggers of her arm blades. "Fight me, Rosso. Fight me like you used to, when we hated each other. Fight me like the Tsviets we are." She clenched her fists and turned to face her opponent. "First blood."

Rosso stepped back a few paces and drew out her weapon as well. "Beautiful. That is the Ara I remember so fondly."

Aradia fought her hardest, allowing herself to tire. Rosso did the same. They both refused to give up. Neither had landed a hit on the other's person. Aradia was a Tsviet, after all. She may not have been colored, but she was at their level. The only difference was that the Colored Tsviets had _his_ genes. That was the most fundamental difference.

Rosso caught Aradia off guard and cut the outside of her arm open, even as Aradia moved to block. They both jumped away from each other.

"You've gotten better since we last fought so seriously, Ara." Rosso said, breathing heavily.

"You're still better than me, Rosso." Aradia said, smiling. "I've met very few who are, but you still hold a part of that title. I had hoped that wouldn't be true, but it's been so very long since we've fought so hard."

Rosso nodded and cleaned her weapon before stowing it away over her shoulder. Aradia did the same, unlocking the triggers from around her fingers.

"Soon, my sister." Rosso said. "Soon we will be free of this place, and you will be warm once more."

Aradia nodded, glancing at the artificial sky. "I hope you're right, Rosso, for all our sakes.

* * *

Aradia didn't look back as she ran from what was once the ShinRa manor. The others were moving in a different direction, and Aradia had enough doses of Mako for six months. It was all the others could afford to spare. They had bade their goodbyes and moved on to whatever it was their mission was. Aradia needed to find Zack. She knew that there was much that happened, and she was scared to learn what it was.

She wrapped her coat around her shoulders and slid her arms into the sleeves, concealing the arm blades on both of her arms. She wouldn't go anywhere without them. She slipped into a dive of a bar called Seventh Heaven. She took a seat at the bar itself and ordered a drink.

The woman behind the bar had long brown hair and kind eyes. Aradia hadn't seen kind eyes in quite some time. She wore a black tank top and a pair of shorts with combat boots. She also had a pink ribbon tied around her arm. Curious.

"Are you new around Edge, Sweetie?" The woman asked.

"Something like that." Aradia murmured. "I've been off the map for a while. I figured it was time to get back to civilization."

The woman nodded. "Well, you picked the right place to start. My name is Tifa Lockhart."

"A pleasure." Aradia murmured. "Ara. Just Ara."

Tifa smiled. "Well, welcome to Edge, Ara."

Aradia nodded and finished her drink. "I'm wondering if you can help me find someone. It's rather important that I see him."

"Who are you looking for?" Tifa asked.

"A man by the name of Zack Fair." Aradia told her. "He's a former SOLDIER."

Tifa's face fell. "You wait here. I know someone who can take you to see him."

Aradia nodded.

It wasn't seconds later that Tifa came back dragging a blond man behind her. A blond man Aradia recognized immediately. "Cloud." She murmured, standing.

"Aradia?" Cloud asked. "Is that really you? President Shinra said that you were …. Is that really you?"

Aradia nodded. "Yeah. It's me. I'll explain later. I just really want to see Zack. I need to see Zack."

Cloud scratched the back of his head. "Well … We need to talk. Tifa, I'll be back. Put her drink on my tab, will you?"

Tifa nodded. "Sure, Cloud."

Cloud nodded for Aradia to follow him. "I don't quite know how to tell you this, Aradia, but … Zack was killed."

Aradia froze as Cloud stepped up next to a bike. "What?"

"I'll explain everything when we get to where we're going." Cloud told her. "but yeah, Zack was killed."

Aradia climbed onto the back of the bike and hung her head, holding onto the seat as they road. Cloud took her to a cliff that overlooked Edge. Aradia looked up and saw the Buster Sword, so familiar, standing up out of the ground. She climbed off of the bike and walked over. She rested her hand on the hilt and her forehead against the blade like she'd seen Angeal do so many times before. "Cloud, tell me what happened."

Cloud sighed and leaned against the bike with his arms crossed. "After what happened in Modeoheim, we brought you back to Midgar. We were told that you were being executed for treason. Betraying the company. Zack lost it for a moment. I'd never seen him so mad. He made a pretty big name for himself. His reputation nearly rivaled Sephiroth's. But something happened. It wasn't a year later that we were in my home town, Nibelheim. Aradia, Genesis showed up, threw some information at Sephiroth, and disappeared. Sephiroth lost it. He burned Nibelheim to the ground and stole the remains of Jenova. Zack and I spent the next four years in what they deemed the Sephiroth Copy Project, or something like that. Some Professor Hojo headed it."

Aradia clenched her fists. "You have no idea how sorry I am to hear you went through something like that, Cloud. Believe me, I know what it's like."

Cloud snorted. "At any rate, when we escaped, we were on the run for a while. We weren't even considered members of ShinRa anymore. Just escaped specimens. Zack's record meant nothing, but he had the buster sword. Unfortunately, I was no help. I had gotten Mako poisoning because of the experiments."

"Consider yourself lucky that was all you got. "Aradia told him. "Then what?"

"We were on our way back here." Cloud said. "Zack had gotten a girlfriend before hand. Aerith. She was a real gem. We were caught right here on this cliff. So close. He fought until he couldn't lift his sword. It went from thousands on one, to just three on one, and by that time, he couldn't fight anymore. I was just coming too. I was having a hard time moving myself. I couldn't do anything to help, or I would have."

"So they're all dead." Aradia murmured. "Angeal, Genesis, Zack… What happened to Sephiroth?"

"He went insane." Cloud told her. "Tried to take over the world in Jenova's image. I had to …"

"I understand." Aradia told him. "Believe me, I understand completely."

Cloud frowned. "Aradia, where have you been?"

"The one place I never wanted to go again." Aradia told him. She hadn't moved from her kneeled position in front of the buster sword, only now she had moved to sit back on her legs with her hands in her lap. "Deep Ground." She told him. "ShinRa's Darkest Secret. The facility where they tried to create Super SOLDIERs. Where they succeeded in creating these SOLDIERs. Until recently, we were under the total control of the members of the SOLDIER 14th unit, the Lost Force. We found a way to overpower them, and we did. What the others are planning, I have no idea. I told them I wanted no part in it. I just wanted to be normal. To feel the sun again. To die in peace."

"Die?" Cloud asked.

"Genesis is gone." Aradia told him. "There's no point in me continuing on, is there? Zack and Angeal, Sephiroth. They're all gone. I'm the only one left."

"All the more reason for you to live." Cloud said. "All the more reason for you to keep their memory alive. Zack was my mentor. The greatest man in my life. He told me himself that I was his living legacy. Why can't you be theirs. Genesis and Angeal gave their wisdom to you, their experience and their dreams. Their Pride. Keep that with you."

Aradia looked up at the sky and let the sun warm her face for the first time in nine long years. "It doesn't matter, Cloud. I have six months. After that, I'm dead anyway."

"Why?" Cloud asked.

Aradia shook her head. "I'll explain another time. For now, let me rest. Go back to your friends. I'll be fine. I just need some time by myself."

Cloud gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

Aradia nodded as she removed her coat and unstrapped her arm blades. She set them aside and folded her hands, and bowed her head. "I'm sure."

Cloud nodded and left, leaving Aradia to her solitude.

They were all gone.

Cloud had said that Zack told him that Cloud was Zack's living legacy. She could see it. Cloud acted a lot like her favorite Puppy had after Angeal had joined Genesis. She remembered Cloud when she was being transported back to Midgar. He had been just like Zack. Hyper, curious, full of questions. It was only after Zack had told him to, that he stopped.

Aradia sighed as she looked up at the sky. In the end, all she could do was wait and see what happened. "_Even if the morrow is barren of promise, nothing shall forestall my return. To be come the dew that quenches the land. To spare the sands, the seas, the skies. I offer you this silent sacrifice." _She said with a sad smile. "It's you to the letter, Zack. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help."

* * *

**A/n: Hare:** This is the end. For now. It will continue in a month. August 1, folks. Keep an eye out. Tell us what you think. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and special thanks to those of you who have been with us to the beginning. It's been an interesting ride, that's for damn sure.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.

Insanity leads to friends that will be with you for life … even if they aren't real.


End file.
